Promethean
[prə'mi:θjən]
Definition
(a.) Of or pertaining to Prometheus. See Prometheus.
(a.) Having a life-giving quality; inspiring.
(n.) An apparatus for automatic ignition.
(n.) A kind of lucifer match.
Typist: Richard
Definition
adj. pertaining to Prometheus who stole fire from heaven for which Zeus chained him to a rock to be tortured by a vulture.—n. a glass tube containing sulphuric acid and an inflammable mixture: a kind of lucifer-match.—n. Promē′theus a large silk-spinning moth.
Editor: Pierre
Examples
- Now, don't you suppose, my inexperienced girl, that I cannot rebel, in high Promethean fashion, against the gods and fate as well as you. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Faraday, to whom also was given Promethean inspiration, procured some of Walker's matches and brought them to public notice. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Prometheus, however, did reappear about 1820-25, when a match bearing the name Promethean was invented. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
Editor: Pierre