Minotaur

//ˈmɪnəˌtɔː(ɹ)// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Anything resembling the Greek monster, whether by appearance or by strength.
  2. 2
    (Greek mythology) a mythical monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man; slain by Theseus wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative letter-case form of Minotaur. Greek, alt-of
  2. 2
    A monster, half man and half bull, who dwelled in the labyrinth in Crete and who was killed by Theseus. Greek

Example

More examples

"The Minotaur was a monster shaped half like a man and half like a bull, confined in the labyrinth built by Daedalus for Minos, and given a periodic tribute of youths and maidens as food until killed by Theseus."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English Minotaure, Mynataur, mynatour, Mynotaur, Mynotawre; see Minotaur.

Etymology 2

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”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.