Isis

¹ American  

[ahy-sis] / ˈaɪ sɪs /

noun

Egyptian Religion.

1. a goddess of fertility, the sister and wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, and usually represented as a woman with a cow's horns with the solar disk between them: later worshiped in the Greek and Roman empires.

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ISIS ² American  

[ahy-sis] / ˈaɪ sɪs /

noun

1. Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (or Islamic State in Iraq and Syria): a radical Sunni Muslim organization whose aim is to restore an Islamic state, or caliphate, in the region encompassing Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, and southeastern Turkey.

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Isis ¹ British  

/ ˈaɪsɪs /

noun

1. the local name for the River Thames at Oxford

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Isis ² British  

/ ˈaɪsɪs /

noun

1. an ancient Egyptian fertility goddess, depicted as a woman with a cow's horns, between which was the disc of the sun; wife and sister of Osiris

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Etymology

Origin of Isis¹

< Latin < Greek Îsis < Egyptian 'st

Origin of ISIS²

First recorded in 2010–15; from Arabic al-Sham, an ancient territory known in English as the Levant, an area on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean

Example Sentences

Low population levels also make monarchs more vulnerable to short-term stress and long-term pressures, said Isis Howard, a conservation biologist with the Xerces Society.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2026

The major rediscovery, and the title subject of the documentary, is the Temple of Isis that sat upon the island of Antirhodos, itself residing in a soggy grave.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 14, 2025

Carbona remade BioLife into AveXis: Av for adeno-associated virus serotype 9, the engine of Kaspar’s drug; ve for vector; X for the DNA helix; and Is for Isis, the goddess of children, nature and magic.

From Salon • Feb. 19, 2025

But the singer has just led a music workshop behind bars, at HMP Isis, a Category C men's prison and young offender institution in south-east London.

From BBC • Apr. 26, 2024

So when Toby started asking questions about the things on the altars and about Set and Isis, Melanie started giving straight answers.

From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder