Plouton

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A deity associated with the underworld and the riches hidden beneath the earth, often symbolizing death and wealth
2. A figure representing both the inevitable aspect of mortality and the potential for prosperity through the earth's resources
3. An ancient term linked to the god of the dead who governs over the treasures and minerals found underground

Etymology: "Plouton" is a learned borrowing of the Ancient Greek name Ploútōn, the god who ruled the underworld. The Greek name is built from "ploutos", meaning wealth or riches, and the god's association with wealth came from the fact that the earth held precious metals and crops, which were thought to rise from the realm he governed beneath the surface. Greek writers sometimes gave him the epithet Plouton, and by the classical period the name was often used in its gentler form as a way of avoiding the dread attached to the god of the dead. The English word "pluto" and its variant forms carry the same Greek origin, and "plouton" is what scholars call a doublet of "Pluto", meaning two forms of one source that entered the language separately. The fuller form keeps closer to the Greek spelling, while "Pluto" came in by the familiar Latin route. Because the word is a classical name in its own right, its meanings trace directly back to the god rather than to any later coinage.

Synonyms: Pluto, god of the underworld, Hades