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. the alchemical name for copper1
Venus in American English
(ˈvinəs)
nounWord forms: pluralˈVenuses
1. Roman Mythology
the goddess of love and beauty: identified with the Greek Aphrodite
2.
a statue or image of Venus
3.
a very beautiful woman
4.
the brightest, sixth-largest planet in the solar system and the second in distance from the sun, with a dense atmosphere of carbondioxide and a very high surface temperature: diameter, c. 12,100 km (c. 7,520 mi); period of revolution, c. 224.7 earth days; period of rotation (retrograde), 243.01 earth days; symbol, ♀
Word origin
ME < L, lit., love < IE *wenos, desire < base *wen-, to strive for, attain > OE wine, friend, winnan, to win
Examples of 'Venus' in a sentence
Venus
Venus tilted back her head, blowing a lungful of blue smoke toward the ceiling.
Reeves, Robert DOUBTING THOMAS
Some were on their hands and knees around sparkling fountains with small statues of Cupid and Neptune and Venus at their centers.
Andrews, Virginia WEB OF DREAMS
`Or a censored version of The Birth of Venus ," he said.
Miller, Sue FAMILY PICTURES (1990)
Word lists with
Venus
Roman, planet
All related terms of 'Venus'
Venus'-hair
a maidenhair fern ( Adiantum capillus-veneris ) of tropical America and the S U.S.
Venus shell
a marine bivalve mollusc of the family Veneridae , typified by the intertidal Venus gallina, with somewhat rounded ribbed valves
Venus' flytrap
a white-flowered swamp plant ( Dionaea muscipula ) of the sundew family, native to the Carolinas , having sensitive leaves with two hinged blades that snap shut , often trapping insects
Venus's-hair
a fragile maidenhair fern , Adiantum capillus-veneris, of tropical and subtropical America, having fan-shaped leaves and a black stem
mount of Venus
→ mons veneris
Venus's-girdle
a ctenophore , Cestum veneris, of warm seas, having an elongated ribbon-like body
Venus's-flytrap
an insectivorous plant, Dionaea muscipula, of Carolina , having hinged two-lobed leaves that snap closed when the sensitive hairs on the surface are touched : family Droseraceae
Venus's flower basket
any of several deep-sea sponges of the genus Euplectella, esp E. aspergillum , having a skeleton composed of interwoven glassy six-rayed spicules
Venus's looking glass
a purple-flowered campanulaceous plant, Legousia hybrida, of Europe , W Asia , and N Africa