Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🗿 Roman god of change ⚪ Two-sided particle
Janus

Janus

14 9.9
A Roman god with two faces who looks to the past and the future
  • proper noun
  • /ˈdʒeɪnəs/
  • Literature
translation icon : Jano
  • In Roman mythology, Janus is often depicted as a god with two faces, representing transitions between past and future.
  • Janus-faced
  • Janus-faced sculpture
  • Janus-faced masks

Examples

  • In Roman, and not Greek mythology, Janus is the god of transition and beginnings.

    Blog text (32)

  • Here is the so-called shrine of Janus, the two headed God Janus.

  • Here we see the Temple of Janus, a temple whose doors were opened in times of war and closed in times of peace.

  • Gaga has two faces, not unlike Janus, the god of gateways and beginnings.

    Blog text (30)

  • The month of January is named after Janus, the deity associated with new beginnings.

  • As the guardian of doorways, Janus symbolizes the start of new journeys in life.

Compounds

Janus perspective
9.9

Seeing a situation from two opposite sides

Surface Forms

Janus main

Etymology

Janus comes from the Roman god Janus, who had two faces and watched doorways and new beginnings, and his name is linked to Latin ianua meaning 'door' and to the month January. So Janus stands for openings and changes, looking both to the past and the future.