Astarte

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An ancient Semitic goddess of love, fertility and war worshipped across Phoenicia and Canaan ; a name used for the planet Venus in some classical and modern contexts ; a genus of small marine clams in the family Astartidae
2. A Phoenician and Canaanite deity linked to love, fertility and battle ; the name given to the planet Venus in certain traditions ; a group of small saltwater bivalve mollusks belonging to the genus Astarte
3. Ancient Near Eastern goddess associated with love, fertility and warfare ; an alternative label for the planet Venus ; a genus of marine bivalve clams with thick, ridged shells

Etymology: Astarte was one of the great goddesses of the ancient Near East, and her name reached English through a long chain of languages. The Phoenician form, "ʿAštart," was rendered in Ancient Greek as "Astártē," and English took the name in its Latin form, "Astarte." The same deity also appears in the Hebrew Bible as Ashtoreth, and in Mesopotamia as Ishtar, so the three names are doublets: different routes from one divine name. The goddess was worshipped across Phoenicia, Canaan and beyond, where she was associated with love, fertility and war. Because she was a foreign deity in the eyes of the Hebrew writers, her name appears in the Bible as a target of condemnation, which helps explain why English speakers met it first in religious and classical contexts rather than as an everyday word.

Synonyms: Ashtoreth, Ishtar