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👁️ One-eyed giant 🦐 A water flea
Cyclops

Cyclops

4 9.0
A giant with one eye in the middle of the forehead from Greek myth
  • noun
  • /ˈsaɪklɒps/
  • Literature
translation icon : Cíclope
  • In Greek mythology, a Cyclops is known for having a single eye in the center of its forehead.
  • the eye of a Cyclops

Because this is the thing that's being valued in him as a hero at the moment, that they plunged the stick into the eye of the Cyclops.

Examples

  • Many of these, such as Knossos, Mycenae, Pylos, and Tiryns, are on every tourist schedule today with impressive ruins and 'cyclopean walls' (so called because they were so large that they could only have been built by the legendary Cyclops).

    Blog text (11)

  • Many ancient tales describe the fearsome Cyclops as a one-eyed giant who lived on remote islands.

  • You want me to lead you to a Cyclops?

    Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)

  • The island of the Cyclops is in the Odyssey where each person is each cyclops is totally on their own.

  • In the Odyssey, you remember, Odysseus finds himself on the island of the Cyclopes, those one eyed monsters.

  • The story of Odysseus includes a famous encounter with the giant Cyclops, Polyphemus.

Synonyms

cycloptic creature
vsCyclops
  • Literature
9.9

A creature with one eye, like a Cyclops

refers specifically to a race of giants in Greek myth with one central eye

Surface Forms

Cyclops singular
Cyclopes plural

Morphology

Cyclops = cycle (semi-transparent) = cyclo + ops

The elements correspond to Greek combining forms meaning 'circle' + 'eye', which gives an intelligible hint but they are not productive standalone English morphemes for most learners.

Etymology

Cyclops comes from the Greek parts kyklos 'circle' and ops 'eye', the same kyklos you see in cycle. Picture a single round eye like a wheel in the middle of the forehead, and that is why a Cyclops is a one-eyed giant.