Word Study
saturn
CIDE DICTIONARY
saturn, n. [L. Saturnus, literally, the sower, fr. serere, satum, to sow. See Season.].
- One of the elder and principal deities, the son of Cœlus and Terra (Heaven and Earth), and the father of Jupiter. The corresponding Greek divinity was
Kro`nos , laterCHro`nos , Time. [1913 Webster] - One of the planets of the solar system, next in magnitude to Jupiter, but more remote from the sun. Its diameter is seventy thousand miles, its mean distance from the sun nearly eight hundred and eighty millions of miles, and its year, or periodical revolution round the sun, nearly twenty-nine years and a half. It is surrounded by a remarkable system of rings, and has eight satellites. [1913 Webster]
- The metal lead. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
saturn, n.
1 a the sixth planet from the sun, with a system of broad flat rings circling it, and the most distant of the five planets known in the ancient world. b Astrol. Saturn as a supposed astrological influence on those born under its sign, characterized by coldness and gloominess.
2 Alchemy the metal lead.
1 a the sixth planet from the sun, with a system of broad flat rings circling it, and the most distant of the five planets known in the ancient world. b Astrol. Saturn as a supposed astrological influence on those born under its sign, characterized by coldness and gloominess.
2 Alchemy the metal lead.
Derivative
Saturnian adj.
Etymology
L Saturnus, Roman god of agriculture, identified with Kronos, father of Zeus, perh. f. Etruscan
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