proper noun · masculinethird declension
Trītōn1
Trītōn m (genitive Trītōnis)
Classical[ˈtriː.toːn]Ecclesiastical[ˈtriː.ton]
Meaning
- GreekTriton (mythological sea god)
- a river and lake in Libya
- the name of a ship
Trītōn, ōnis or ōnŏs, m., = Τρίτων.
I. Lit., a son of Neptune and the nymph Salacia, a sea-god, who, at the bidding of Neptune, blows through a shell to calm or rouse the sea, Ov. M. 2, 8; 1, 333 sq.; 13, 919; Cic. N. D. 1, 28, 78; 2, 35, 89; Luc. 9, 348; Hyg. Astr. 2, 23 fin.—Plur.:
Tritones, sea-gods that serve the other gods, Verg. A. 5, 824; Plin. 36, 5, 4, § 26.—B. Transf.
1. A humorous designation of a lover of fish-ponds: piscinarum Tritones, qs. fish-pond gods, Cic. Att. 2, 9, 1.—
2. A sea-fish of the genus pelamides, Plin. 32, 11, 53, § 144.—
3. The name of a ship, Verg. A. 10, 209.—
II. A river and lake in Africa, near the Lesser Syrtis, where, according to Egypto-Grecian fables, Minerva was born, Mel. 1, 7, 4; Luc. 9, 347; Stat. Th. 2, 722; Claud. IV. Cons. Hon. 36; Sid. Carm. 15, 5.—Hence,
1. Trītōnĭus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Lake Triton, Tritonian:
Pallas, Verg. A. 5, 704; also, virgo, id. ib. 11, 483; more freq., absol.: Trītō-nĭa, ae, f., Minerva, Verg. A. 2, 171; Ov. M. 2, 783; 5, 250; 5, 270; 6, 1; id. F. 6, 655 et saep.—Also, Trītōnĭda, ae, Mart. Cap. 9, § 893.—2. Trītōnĭăcus, a, um, adj., Tritonian: palus, a miry sea near Pallene, in Macedonia, Ov. M. 15, 358: harundo, i. e. the tibia invented by Pallas, id. ib. 6, 384.—
3. Trītōnis, ĭdis or ĭdos, f. adj., of or belonging to Lake Triton; or, transf., to Pallas, Palladian:
palus, Lake Triton, Sil. 3, 322: Pallas, Lucr. 6, 750: arx, the citadel of Pallas, i. e. Athens, Ov. M. 2, 794: urbs, id. ib. 5, 645: pinus, i. e. the ship Argo, built at the suggestion of Pallas, id. H. 6, 47.—As subst.: Trītōnis, ĭdis or ĭdos, f. 1. Lake Triton, Sil. 9, 297; Stat. Th. 7, 185.—
2. Pallas, Verg. A. 2, 226; Ov. M. 3, 127; 8, 547:
Tritonide fertiles Athenae, i. e. the olive-tree planted by Pallas, Stat. S. 2, 7, 28.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
Trītōn ōnis, m
, Τρίτων, a sea-god, son of Neptune, C., O.—Plur, sea-gods, V.: piscinarum Tritones, i. e. lords of fish-ponds.—The Triton (a ship), V.
Origins
Borrowed from Ancient Greek Τρῑ́των (Trī́tōn).
In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries
GeographyTritonTriton (ὁ Τρίτων ποταμός, Ptol. 4.3.19, &c.), a river of Libya, forming, according to Ptolemy, the boundary of the Regio Syrtica towards the W. It ros…Biography & mythologyTritonTriton (Τρίτων). 1. A son of Poseidon and Amphitrite (or Celaeno), who dwelt with his father and mother in a golden palace on the bottom of the sea, o…GeographyTritonTriton (Τρίτων, Diod. 5.72), a river of Crete at the source of which Athene was said to have been born. From its connection with the Omphalian plain, …