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Pygmalion

pyg·ma·lion

UK/pɪɡˈmeɪliən/ US/ˌpɪˈɡmeɪljʌn/ uncommon

noun

1.

(Greek mythology) a king who created a statue of a woman and fell in love with it; Aphrodite brought the sculpture to life as Galatea

Origin

From Pygmalion, from Ancient Greek Πυγμαλίων (Pugmalíōn), from Phoenician 𐤐𐤏𐤌𐤉𐤕𐤍 (pʿmytn /⁠puġ‘mayaton⁠/), from Phoenician 𐤐𐤌𐤉𐤉𐤕𐤍 (pmyytn /⁠pumayyaton⁠/, “Pumay has given”), from Phoenician 𐤐𐤌𐤉 (pmy, “Pumay”) + Phoenician 𐤉𐤕𐤍 (ytn /⁠yaton⁠/, “to give”).

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Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.