Cyrus
name ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An ancient king of Persia, Cyrus the Great.
"Thus ſayeth Cyꝛus the kynge of Perſia: The LORDE God of heauẽ hath geuen me all the kyngdomes in the londe and hath commaunded me to buylde him an houſe at Ieruſalem in Iuda."
- 2 The Kura river, as it is called in classical sources.
"In the mountains near Suram is a watering-place called Burjan, to which the Imperial Lieutenant of the Caucasus retires in summer. The river Kur, the ancient Cyrus, takes its rise in that district."
- 3 A male given name from Old Persian.
"Cyrus] There were two Cyri the greater, meant here, Conqueror of Aſia, Scythia, and all the Eaſt, reigning in the time of Tarquin the proud. […] The other was Cyrus the leſſer, ſonne to Darius, brother to Artaxerxes, whoſe iourney into Perſia, Xenophon wrote. [marginal note:] The tvvo Cyri. […] Cyri who they were."
- 4 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord, the God of heaven, given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people, the Lord his God be with him, let him go up."
Etymology
From Latin Cȳrus, from Ancient Greek Κῦρος (Kûros), from Old Persian 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 (kuruš). As a saints' name it has been identified by folk etymology with Ancient Greek κύριος (kúrios, “lord”).
From Latin Cȳrus, from Ancient Greek Κῦρος (Kûros), perhaps from Urartian 𒆳𒄣𒊑𒀀𒉌 (ᴷᵁᴿqu-ri-a-ni /Quriani/), a land possibly in the upper reaches of the Kura river.
Related phrases
More for "cyrus"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.