Artemis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A figure from Greek mythology known as the goddess of the hunt, wilderness, and childbirth, often depicted with a bow and arrows
2. A deity revered as the protector of young women and livestock, embodying independence and strength in nature
3. A prominent character in ancient stories, celebrated for her skill in hunting and her role as a guardian of the natural world

Etymology: Artemis was the Greek goddess of the hunt, the wild places and the moon, and her name reached English through a learned route rather than through ordinary speech. English took it directly from Ancient Greek, where the name was written "Ἄρτεμις" (Artemis). Its deeper ancestry is unclear: scholars have not settled on a convincing origin, so the name remains one of those classical words whose meaning in its own language is lost to us. Because the goddess was so widely worshipped, her name spread far beyond Greece, and the Romans identified her with their own huntress Diana. English speakers therefore often meet her under that Latin name, though "Artemis" remains the form used in Greek myth and in modern scholarship. Her cult centre at Ephesus, where a great temple once stood, is one of the best-known sites of her worship.