Tri·ton

(trīt′n)

1. Greek Mythology A god of the sea, son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, portrayed as having the head and trunk of a man and the tail of a fish.

2. A satellite of Neptune.

[Latin Trītōn, from Greek.]

tri·ton¹

(trīt′n)

Any of various chiefly tropical predatory marine gastropod mollusks of the family Ranellidae, having a pointed, spirally twisted, often colorfully marked shell.

[Latin Trītōn, Triton (from representations of the sea god holding a conch shell); see Triton.]

tri·ton²

(trī′tŏn′)

The nucleus of tritium, consisting of two neutrons and one proton.

[trit(ium) + -on.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

triton

(ˈtraɪtən)

(Animals) any of various chiefly tropical marine gastropod molluscs of the genera Charonia, Cymatium, etc, having large beautifully-coloured spiral shells

[C16: via Latin from Greek tritōn]

triton

(ˈtraɪtɒn)

(General Physics) physics a nucleus of an atom of tritium, containing two neutrons and one proton

[C20: from trit(ium) + -on]

Triton

(ˈtraɪtən)

1. (Classical Myth & Legend) a sea god, son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, depicted as having the upper parts of a man with a fish's tail and holding a trumpet made from a conch shell

2. (Classical Myth & Legend) one of a class of minor sea deities

Triton

(ˈtraɪtən)

(Celestial Objects) the largest satellite of the planet Neptune. Diameter: 2700 km

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tri•ton

(ˈtraɪ tɒn)

n.

a positively charged particle consisting of a proton and two neutrons, equivalent to the nucleus of an atom of tritium.

[1930–35; < Greek tríton, neuter of trítos third; compare -on¹]

Tri•ton

(ˈtraɪt n)

n.

1. (in Greek myth) a sea god, or one of a group of gods, usu. represented as a merman blowing a conch-shell trumpet.

2. (l.c.) any of various marine gastropods of the family Cymatiidae, having a large, spiral shell.

3. (l.c.) the shell of a triton.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	Triton - (Greek mythology) a sea god; son of Poseidon Greek mythology - the mythology of the ancient Greeks
	2.	Triton - the largest moon of Neptune
	3.	triton - tropical marine gastropods having beautifully colored spiral shells seasnail - any of several creeping marine gastropods with a spirally coiled shell: whelks; tritons; moon shells; neritids Cymatiidae, family Cymatiidae - tritons
	4.	triton - small usually bright-colored semiaquatic salamanders of North America and Europe and northern Asia newt family Salamandridae, Salamandridae - salamanders salamander - any of various typically terrestrial amphibians that resemble lizards and that return to water only to breed common newt, Triturus vulgaris - small semiaquatic salamander Notophthalmus viridescens, red eft - red terrestrial form of a common North American newt Pacific newt - any of several rough-skinned newts found in western North America eft - a newt in its terrestrial stage of development

Translations

Triton

tritone

Triton

[ˈtraɪtn] N → Tritón

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Triton

[ˈtraɪt/ən] n → Tritone m

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

But Porthos was not a man to abandon an old servant, and when Musqueton rose above the water, blind as a new-born puppy, he found he was supported by the large hand of Porthos and that he was thus enabled, without having occasion even to move, to advance toward the cable with the dignity of a very triton.

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The cascades, somewhat rebellious nymphs though they were, poured forth their waters brighter and clearer than crystal: they scattered over the bronze triton and nereids their waves of foam, which glistened like fire in the rays of the sun.

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If we were not so poor I would invite Lord Triton. He will be marquis some day, and there is no denying that she would make a good marchioness: she looks handsomer than ever in her mourning."

Lord Triton is precisely the man: full of plans for making the people happy in a soft-headed sort of way.

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Thus the ancients, observing their soft and expressive looks, which cannot be surpassed by the most beautiful look a woman can give, their clear voluptuous eyes, their charming positions, and the poetry of their manners, metamorphosed them, the male into a triton and the female into a mermaid.

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930-933) And of Amphitrite and the loud-roaring Earth-Shaker was born great, wide-ruling Triton, and he owns the depths of the sea, living with his dear mother and the lord his father in their golden house, an awful god.

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The island of Koh-ring, a great, black, up- heaved ridge amongst a lot of tiny islets, lying upon the glassy water like a triton amongst min- nows, seemed to be the centre of the fatal circle.

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Then he sent some tritons to bind chains about the Prince of the Golden Isle, and he too felt himself borne to the depths of the ocean, and without the hope of ever again seeing the Princess.

So the Prince of the Golden Isle found, when bound in chains by the tritons, he was carried through the homes of strange monsters and past immense seaweed forests, till he reached a vast sandy space, surrounded by huge rocks.

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There, in front of their respective pavilions, flew the martlets of Audley, the roses of Loring, the scarlet bars of Wake, the lion of the Percies and the silver wings of the Beauchamps, each supported by a squire clad in hanging green stuff to represent so many Tritons, and bearing a huge conch-shell in their left hands.

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There is the Trophonius' cave in which, by some artifice, the leaden Tritons are made not only to spout water, but to play the most dreadful groans out of their lead conchs--there is the nymphbath and the Niagara cataract, which the people of the neighbourhood admire beyond expression, when they come to the yearly fair at the opening of the Chamber, or to the fetes with which the happy little nation still celebrates the birthdays and marriage-days of its princely governors.

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There were, indeed, three antiquated cutlasses in a trophy over the fireplace, and one brown sixteenth-century map with Tritons and little ships dotted about a curly sea.

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