Thanatos

[ than-uh-tos, -tohs ]

noun

1. an ancient Greek personification of death.
2. Psychoanalysis. (usually lowercase) the death instinct, especially as expressed in violent aggression.

Thanatos

/ ˌθænəˈtɒtɪk; ˈθænəˌtɒs /

noun

1. the Greek personification of death: son of Nyx, goddess of night Roman counterpartMors
2. the name chosen by Freud to represent a universal death instinct Compare Eros

Derived Forms

• Thanatotic, adjective

Other Words From

• Than·a·tot·ic [than-, uh, -, tot, -ik], adjective

Example Sentences

Her dad’s servant Thanatos, god of death, had suggested that Pluto might be doing Hazel a favor by ignoring her.

From Literature

But slowly we are being vaccinated, we are being freed; and soon Thanatos and Eros may not be so scarily intertwined.

From New York Times

He was King of the Dead—not Death himself, whom the Greeks called Thanatos and the Romans, Orcus.

From Literature

Sitting cross-legged in my friend’s attic, I tore through those pages, ricocheting between Thanatos and Eros.

From Washington Post

Forbidden or disaster-laden touch has been thematically explored from the beginning of storytelling: think the apple of Eden, King Midas, Apollo and Daphne, Tantalus, Pygmalion and Thanatos myths, where touching can have calamitous consequences.

From The Guardian