Cyp·ri·an

(sĭp′rē-ən)

adj.

1. Of or relating to Cyprus; Cypriot.

a. Of or relating to the ancient worship of Aphrodite on Cyprus.

b. Licentious; wanton.

1. See Cypriot.

2. also cyprian

a. A wanton person.

b. A prostitute.

Cyprian

, Saint Died ad 258.

Christian prelate and martyr who led Christians in North Africa during persecution by the Roman emperors Decius and Valerian.

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.

Cyprian

(ˈsɪprɪən)

adj

1. (Placename) of or relating to Cyprus

2. (Classical Myth & Legend) of or resembling the ancient orgiastic worship of Aphrodite on Cyprus

(often not capital) obsolete a licentious person, esp a prostitute or dancer

n, adj

3. (Placename) another word for Cypriot

4. (Peoples) another word for Cypriot

Cyprian

(ˈsɪprɪən)

(Biography) Saint. ?200–258 ad, bishop of Carthage and martyr. Feast day: Sept 26 or 16

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

Cyp•ri•an

(ˈsɪp ri ən)

adj.

1. Cypriot.

2. Archaic. lewd; licentious.

3. Cypriot.

4. Archaic. a licentious person, esp. a prostitute.

[1590–1600; < Latin Cypri(us) of Cyprus Greek Kýprios, derivative of Kýpros Cyprus]

Cyp•ri•an

(ˈsɪp ri ən)

n.

Saint (Thascius Caecillus Cyprianus), A.D. c200–258, early church father, bishop, and martyr.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	cyprian - a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money bawd, cocotte, fancy woman, harlot, lady of pleasure, prostitute, sporting lady, tart, whore, woman of the street, working girl call girl - a female prostitute who can be hired by telephone camp follower - a prostitute who provides service to military personnel comfort woman, ianfu - a woman forced into prostitution for Japanese servicemen during World War II; "she wrote a book about her harsh experiences as a comfort woman" demimondaine - a woman whose sexual promiscuity places her outside respectable society floozie, floozy, hustler, slattern, street girl, streetwalker - a prostitute who attracts customers by walking the streets white slave - a woman sold into prostitution adult female, woman - an adult female person (as opposed to a man); "the woman kept house while the man hunted"
	2.	Cyprian - a native or inhabitant of Cyprus Cypriot, Cypriote Cyprus - an island in the eastern Mediterranean European - a native or inhabitant of Europe
Adj.	1.	Cyprian - of or relating to Cyprus or its people or culture; "Cypriot expatriates"; "Cypriote monasteries" Cypriot, Cypriote
	2.	cyprian - resembling the ancient orgiastic worship of Aphrodite on Cyprus unchaste - not chaste; "unchaste conduct"

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Six epics with the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" made up the Trojan Cycle -- The "Cyprian Lays", the "Iliad", the "Aethiopis", the "Little Illiad", the "Sack of Troy", the "Returns", the "Odyssey", and the "Telegony".

The "Cyprian Lays", ascribed to Stasinus of Cyprus (14) (but also to Hegesinus of Salamis) was designed to do for the events preceding the action of the "Iliad" what Arctinus had done for the later phases of the Trojan War.

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Now the son of Tydeus was in pursuit of the Cyprian goddess, spear in hand, for he knew her to be feeble and not one of those goddesses that can lord it among men in battle like Minerva or Enyo the waster of cities, and when at last after a long chase he caught her up, he flew at her and thrust his spear into the flesh of her delicate hand.

"Father Jove," said she, "do not be angry with me, but I think the Cyprian must have been persuading some one of the Achaean women to go with the Trojans of whom she is so very fond, and while caressing one or other of them she must have torn her delicate hand with the gold pin of the woman's brooch."

He first went up to the Cyprian and wounded her in the hand near her wrist, and afterwards sprang upon me too, as though he were a god."

how great and goodly a host of the Achaeans he has destroyed to my great grief, and without either right or reason, while the Cyprian and Apollo are enjoying it all at their ease and setting this unrighteous madman on to do further mischief.

First he went up to the Cyprian and wounded her in the hand near her wrist, and then he sprang upon me too as though he were a god.

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Periander the tyrant of Ambracia also lost his life by a conspiracy, for some improper liberties he took with a boy in his cups: and Philip was slain by Pausanias for neglecting to revenge him of the affront he had received from Attains; as was Amintas the Little by Darda, for insulting him on account of his age; and the eunuch by Evagoras the Cyprian in revenge for having taken his son's wife away from him ....

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And, as in the legend, it had resulted that her Cyprian image had suddenly appeared upon his alter, whereby the fire of the priest had been well nigh extinguished.

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"Ye donnert ne'er-do-weel, do you come to a decent, 'sponsible man like me, wi' sic a Cyprian overture as that?

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And the Muses' quire will never disdain To visit this heaven-favored plain, Nor the Cyprian queen of the golden rein.

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The third kind depends on memory when the sight of some object awakens a feeling: as in the Cyprians of Dicaeogenes, where the hero breaks into tears on seeing the picture; or again in the 'Lay of Alcinous,' where Odysseus, hearing the minstrel play the lyre, recalls the past and weeps; and hence the recognition.

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