Thetis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A sea nymph of Greek mythology who became the mother of the hero Achilles
2. The divine sea goddess in Greek legend, known as the mother of the warrior Achilles
3. A nymph of the sea in classical myth whose son was the famous hero Achilles

Etymology: Thetis is the sea-nymph who, in Greek myth, was the mother of Achilles, and her name is simply the Ancient Greek Θέτις, carried into English without change. The name is closely tied to the Greek verb "tithenai", meaning "to place" or "to set down", and the figure of Thetis was famously linked to the sea in the Greek poetic tradition, where she is a Nereid, one of the daughters of the sea-god Nereus. Because the name came into English through the classical texts that English writers read, it has stayed a proper noun, used for the nymph herself rather than as a common word. Its only real place in English is in mythological and literary reference, most often when discussing Achilles or the wider cycle of Greek legend.