Definitions for erebusˈɛr ə bəs

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word erebus

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

Er•e•busˈɛr ə bəs(n.)

  1. the underworld in ancient Greek belief.

    Category: Mythology

  2. Mount, a volcano in Antarctica, on Ross Island. 13,202 ft. (4024 m).

    Category: Geography (places)

Origin of Erebus:

< L < Gk Érebos

Princeton's WordNet

  1. Erebus(noun)

    (Greek mythology) Greek god of darkness who dwelt in the underworld; son of Chaos; brother of Nox; father of Aether and Day


  1. Erebus(ProperNoun)

    The personification of darkness and shadow.

  2. Erebus(ProperNoun)

    A volcano in Antarctica, named after HMS Erebus.

  3. Origin: From Ἔρεβος.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Erebus(noun)

    a place of nether darkness, being the gloomy space through which the souls passed to Hades. See Milton's "Paradise Lost," Book II., line 883

  2. Erebus(noun)

    the son of Chaos and brother of Nox, who dwelt in Erebus


  1. Erebus

    In Greek mythology, Erebus, also Erebos, was often conceived as a primordial deity, representing the personification of darkness; for instance, Hesiod's Theogony places him as one of the first five beings to come into existence, born from Chaos. Erebus features little in Greek mythological tradition and literature, but is said to have fathered several other deities by Nyx; depending on the source of the mythology, this union includes Aether, Hemera, the Hesperides, Hypnos, the Moirai, Geras, Styx, and Thanatos. In Greek literature the name Erebus is also used to refer to a region of the Underworld where the dead had to pass immediately after dying, and is sometimes used interchangeably with Tartarus.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

  1. Erebus

    a region of utter darkness in the depths of Hades, into which no mortal ever penetrated, the proper abode of Pluto and his Queen with their train of attendants, such as the Erinnyes, through which the spirits of the dead must pass on their way to Hades; equivalent to the valley of the shadow of death.


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