Ve·nus (v  n s)n. 1. Roman Mythology The goddess of love and beauty. 2. The second planet from the sun, having an average radius of 6,052 kilometers (3,761 miles), a mass 0.815 times that of Earth, and a sidereal period of revolution about the sun of 224.7 days at a mean distance of approximately 108.2 million kilometers (67.2 million miles). [Middle English, from Old English, from Latin, love, Venus; see wen-1 in Indo-European roots.] |
Venus1
n
1. (Myth & Legend / Classical Myth & Legend) the Roman goddess of love Greek counterpart Aphrodite
(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Anatomy)
mount of Venus See mons veneris
Venus2
n
1. (Astronomy & Space / Celestial Objects) one of the inferior planets and the second nearest to the sun, visible as a bright morning or evening star. Its surface is extremely hot (over 400°C) and is completely shrouded by dense cloud. The atmosphere is principally carbon dioxide. Mean distance from sun: 108 million km; period of revolution around sun: 225 days; period of axial rotation: 244.3 days (retrograde motion); diameter and mass: 96.5 and 81.5 per cent that of earth respectively
2. (Chemistry / Alchemy) the alchemical name for copper1
| Venus (vns) The second planet from the Sun and the fourth smallest, with a diameter about 400 miles less than that of Earth. Venus is a terrestrial or inner planet and at inferior conjunction comes nearer to Earth than any other planet; depending on its phase, it is also the brightest object in the night sky aside from Earth's moon. Because Venus is an inferior planet (located between Earth and the Sun), it is only visible relatively near the horizon in the first few hours before sunrise or after sunset. It has a dense atmosphere consisting primarily of carbon dioxide, which, together with its proximity to the Sun, creates an intense greenhouse effect, making it the hottest planet in the solar system with an average surface temperature of 453°C (847°F). Venus is completely shrouded by a thick layer of clouds made up mainly of droplets of sulfuric acid with other clouds of vaporous and particulate sulfur dioxide below it. Radar mapping of the Venutian surface shows rolling hills, plains, and numerous volcanoes as well as large impact craters and extensive lava flows. See Table at solar system. |
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  Venus - the second nearest planet to the sun; it is peculiar in that its rotation is slow and retrograde (in the opposite sense of the Earth and all other planets except Uranus); it is visible from Earth as an early `morning star' or an `evening star'; "before it was known that they were the same object the evening star was called Venus and the morning star was called Lucifer"solar system - the sun with the celestial bodies that revolve around it in its gravitational field |
| 2. |  Venus - goddess of love; counterpart of Greek Aphrodite | |
| 3. | Venus - type genus of the family Veneridae: genus of edible clams with thick oval shells mollusk genus - a genus of mollusks family Veneridae, Veneridae - hard-shell clams Mercenaria mercenaria, hard clam, Venus mercenaria, hard-shell clam, quahaug, quahog, round clam - an edible American clam; the heavy shells were used as money by some American Indians |
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