minotaur means A monster, half man and half bull, who dwelled in the labyrinth in Crete and who was killed by Theseus.
minotaur is pronounced /ˈmɪnəˌtɔː(ɹ)/.
Why “minotaur” is a great word
A monster of Greek mythology with the body of a man and the head of a bull, confined in the Cretan labyrinth and slain by Theseus. From Middle English, from Old English and Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek Μινώταυρος (Minṓtauros), a compound of Μίνως (Mínōs, "Minos, king of Crete") + ταῦρος (taûros, "bull"). Unlike the centaur—a free-roaming hybrid of man and horse—or the chimera—a fire-breathing patchwork of lion, goat, and serpent—the Minotaur is a singular, imprisoned horror, born of a king’s shame and hidden at the heart of a state. It is the heavy scent of warm stone and damp earth in the maze’s core, the rasp of a bull’s breath in a human chest, the terrible silence broken only by the shuffle of its own feet on the winding path—the embodied secret every powerful family fears, walled up and fed on sacrificial youth.
Etymology
From Middle English Minotaure, Mynataur, mynatour, Mynotaur, Mynotawre, from Old English Minotaurus, from Latin Mīnōtaurus, from Ancient Greek Μινώταυρος (Minṓtauros), from Μίνως (Mínōs, “king of Crete”) + ταῦρος (taûros, “bull”).
name
- A monster, half man and half bull, who dwelled in the labyrinth in Crete and who was killed by Theseus.
noun
- Anything resembling the Greek monster, whether by appearance or by strength.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- centaur 86% match — A mythical beast having a horse's body with a man's head and torso in place of the head and neck of the horse. vs minotaur →
- sphinx 84% match — A creature with the head of a person and the body of an animal, commonly a lion. vs minotaur →
- chimera 83% match — Any fantastic creature combining parts from different animals. vs minotaur →
- cyclops 82% match — A one-eyed giant from Greek and Roman mythology. vs minotaur →
- manticore 82% match — A beast with the body of a lion (usually red), the tail of a scorpion, and the head/face of a man with a mouth filled with multiple rows of sharp teeth (like a shark), said to be able to shoot spikes from its tail or mane to paralyse prey. It may be horned, winged, or both; its voice is described as a mixture of pipes and trumpets. vs minotaur →
- onocentaur 81% match — A centaur with the body of an ass, instead of a prototypical horse. vs minotaur →
- satyr 80% match — A sylvan deity or demigod, male companion of Pan or Dionysus, represented as part man and part goat, and characterized by riotous merriment and lasciviousness, sometimes pictured with a perpetual erection. vs minotaur →
- woodwose 80% match — A wild man of the woods; a faun or satyr, or a representation of such a being in heraldry or other decoration. vs minotaur →