Merriam-Webster lowercases "stoic." Random House likes it up. It's "Stygian" darkness at Random House, "stygian" darkness at Webster's. The court can discover no bright-line rule. The mythic "Gordian" knot, named for the peasant king of Phrygia, is always capitalized.

How do you use Stygian in a sentence?

1. The stygian cave led to an underground river which frightened the explorers.
2. The entrance to the forest held a stygian quality which sent shivers down my spine.
3. His novels were focused on the afterlife and its stygian features.

What does the name Stygian mean?

Stygian comes to us (by way of Latin stygius and Greek stygios) from Styx, the name of the principal river in Hades, the underworld of the dead in Greek mythology. ... English speakers have been using stygian to mean "of or relating to the river Styx" since the early 16th century.

What is Stygian darkness?

Definition: extremely dark, gloomy, or forbidding. The "dark and gloomy" sense of stygian is a figurative one, as the original meaning of the word (which may also be found in capitalized form) was decidedly literal ("of or relating to the river Styx").

What part of speech is Stygian?

STYGIAN (adjective) definition and synonyms | Macmillan Dictionary.

The Difference Between Expensing & Capitalization : Marketing & Finance

Is pitch black a word?

adj. extremely black or dark as pitch. Adj.

What does Styx mean?

Styx, in Greek mythology, one of the rivers of the underworld. The word styx literally means “shuddering” and expresses loathing of death. In Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the gods swear by the water of the Styx as their most binding oath.

What is Nyctophilia?

n. a strong preference for darkness or night. Also called noctiphilia; noctophilia; scotophilia.

What word goes with darkness?

• dim, dingy, murky, shadowy, shady, sunless, unlit.
• black, dark-skinned, dusky, ebony, sable, swarthy.
• gloomy, bleak, dismal, grim, morose, mournful, sad, somber.
• evil, foul, infernal, sinister, vile, wicked.
• secret, concealed, hidden, mysterious.

Is Styx a real river?

The Styx is based on a real stream and waterfall called the Mavroneri (AKA "Black Water") in the Peloponnese, and two American researchers, historian Adrienne Mayor and toxicologist Antoinette Hayes, have just published an academic paper arguing that the Styx/Mavroneri contained a deadly bacterium and that water from ...

Is Stygian iron in Greek mythology?

Trivia. Stygian iron is one of four magical ores, the others being Celestial Bronze, Imperial Gold, and Bone Steel. Imperial Gold is Roman, Celestial Bronze is Greek, and Stygian Iron is from the Underworld.

Who is Tartarus?

Tartarus, the infernal regions of ancient Greek mythology. The name was originally used for the deepest region of the world, the lower of the two parts of the underworld, where the gods locked up their enemies. ... According to those accounts, Tartarus and Gaea produced the monster Typhon. Compare Hades.

What is the Ferryman's name?

Charon, in Greek mythology, the son of Erebus and Nyx (Night), whose duty it was to ferry over the Rivers Styx and Acheron those souls of the deceased who had received the rites of burial. In payment he received the coin that was placed in the mouth of the corpse.

What is a Stygian sword?

Nico's Sword is a three-foot-long black sword forged from Stygian Iron that has the power to suck away its victim's essence (soul). ... The origin of the sword is currently unknown, but there is a possibility that Nico forged it himself before or during The Battle of the Labyrinth when he is seen near the River Styx.

What is Stygian fire?

A catapult like turreted weapon that fires a ceramic urn filled with Stygian fire that ignites on impact. Causes a burning pool on the ground for the duration which burns anything in the area.

What does Hadean mean?

: of, relating to, or being the eon of history between the formation of the solar system and the formation of the first rocks on the earth — see Geologic Time Table.

What name means darkness?

Achlys. The name Achlys comes from Greek origin and means darkness. It comes among the unique dark baby names.

What is a better word for evil?

OTHER WORDS FOR evil

1 sinful, iniquitous, depraved, vicious, corrupt, base, vile, nefarious. 2 pernicious, destructive. 6 wickedness, depravity, iniquity, unrighteousness, corruption, baseness. 9 disaster, calamity, woe, misery, suffering, sorrow.

What is pure darkness called?

Eigengrau (German for "intrinsic gray"; pronounced [ˈʔaɪ̯gŋ̍ˌgʁaʊ̯]), also called Eigenlicht (Dutch and German for "intrinsic light"), dark light, or brain gray, is the uniform dark gray background that many people report seeing in the absence of light.

Is Nyctophobia a disorder?

Nyctophobia may be associated with a sleep disorder, like insomnia. A small study on college students with insomnia uncovered that nearly half of the students had a fear of the dark. The researchers measured the students' responses to noises in both light and darkness.

What is Clinomania mean?

Clinomania is an excessive desire to stay in bed. (The definition of the word 'excessive' here is up to you.)

What happens if you swear on the River Styx?

Oaths made by this river brings something 'worse than death' to the oath bearer if not fulfilled. If anyone bathes in the Styx and survives, that person will bear the Curse of Achilles and become invulnerable to most physical attacks, excluding a small spot on their body that if struck will instantly kill them.

What happens if you fall into the River Styx?

Bodies dipped into the river will receive the gift of immortality; one famous example is when Thetis, mother of the demigod Achilles, dipped him into the river by his heel.

Who is the God of the River Styx?

Styx was the name of an Oceanid nymph, one of the three thousand daughters of the Titans Oceanus and his sister-wife Tethys, and the goddess of the River Styx. Others make her one of the progenies of the primordial gods, Nyx (Night) and Erebus (Darkness).

What is a black pitch?

Pitch is made by distilling wood tar, and it is, indeed, black or at least dark brown. The phrase "pitch black" simply describes a type of blackness, just as "butter yellow" and "sky blue" describe other colors. ... Pitch is indeed a black—or very dark brown substance.