Penelope

See also: Penélope, Penelopè, and Penelopë

Translingual
Penelope jacquacu

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πηνέλοψ (pēnélops, “duck”).

Proper noun

Penelope f

  1. A taxonomic genus within the family Cracidae – typical guans, 65 to 95 cms in length.

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

References

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Πηνελόπη, possibly from πηνέλοψ (pēnélops, “duck”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /pɨˈnɛləpi/

Proper noun

Penelope

  1. (Greek mythology) The faithful wife of Odysseus.
    • ~1608 William Shakespeare: Coriolanus: Act I, Scene III:
      You would be another Penelope; yet, they say, all the yarn she spun in Ulysses' absence did but fill Ithaca with moths.
  2. A female given name.
    • 1967 Joan G. Robinson, When Marnie Was There, HarperCollins (2014), →ISBN, page 194:
      "She's a sort of pretend auntie - an old friend of Mummy's. Her real name's Miss Penelope Gill but we always call her Gillie."
      "Don't you ever let her hear you calling her Penelope!" said Mrs Lindsay, laughing. "She hates the name, though really I can't see why. I suppose it wasn't so fashionable when she was young."
    • 2004 Alice Munro, Runaway:Stories, Knopf (2004), page 93:
      "What's her name?" He meant the baby's. "Penelope. We're never going to call her Penny. Penelope." - - - ""Oh. Well, it's Penelope Henderson - Porteous I guess. Or Porteous - Henderson. But maybe that's too much of a mouthful, when she's already called Penelope? We knew that we wanted Penelope. We'll have to settle it somehow."
  3. A town in Texas.

Usage notes
  • Popular given name in the U.K. in the 1950s and the 1960s.

Derived terms

Translations

References
  • Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges: A Concise Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press 2001.

Italian

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek Πηνελόπη (Pēnelópē).

Proper noun

Penelope f

  1. (Greek mythology) Penelope
  2. A female given name
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