Phoebus

[ fee-buhs ]

noun

1. Classical Mythology. Apollo as the sun god.
2. Literary. the sun personified.

Phoebus

/ ˈfiːbəs /

noun

1. Also calledPhoebus Apollo Greek myth Apollo as the sun god
2. poetic.
   a personification of the sun

Other Words From

• Phoe·be·an [fi-, bee, -, uh, n, fee, -bee-], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Phoebus¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English Febus, Phebus, from Latin Phoebus, from Greek phoîbos “shining, radiant, bright,” used in Homer as epithet and name for Apollo; further origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of Phoebus¹

C14: via Latin from Greek Phoibos bright; related to phaos light

Example Sentences

All of this was a gleam in scientists’ eyes when my dad started to think about the accelerator—which he wanted to name Phoebus, for the Greek god of the Sun.

From Science Magazine

For the second straight season, Phoebus bounced Brentsville District in the Class 3 state semifinal, this time in a 58-14 drubbing.

From Washington Post

This show, a collaboration with the Belgium-based Phoebus Foundation, offers a look at Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque paintings from the Southern Netherlands from the 15th through 17th centuries.

From New York Times

John Phoebus, an attorney representing Leatherbury, declined to comment other than to confirm that his client is facing “serious traffic citations.”

From Washington Post

To the biochemist Phoebus Levene, one of Avery’s colleagues at Rockefeller University, the comically plain chemical composition of DNA—four bases strung along a chain—suggested an extremely “unsophisticated” structure.

From Literature