Myth & LegendGreek → English
Phoebe
/ˈfiːbi/noun
A Titaness of Greek myth, a poetic name for the moon, a moon of Saturn, and a common given name.
The Greek roots
Φοίβη
Phoíbē
bright, radiant one
Literally: “bright one”
Follow a root:Φοίβη1 word
The story of the word
Phoíbē is the feminine of Phoîbos, bright, the epithet permanently attached to Apollo. Hesiod makes her a Titaness and the grandmother of Apollo and Artemis, and later poets used Phoebe for the moon as they used Phoebus for the sun. William Pickering found Saturn's moon Phoebe in 1899 on photographic plates, the first satellite discovered that way. The American bird called a phoebe has no connection at all: that name imitates the call.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
phoebus
In a sentence
Phoebe orbits Saturn backwards, which is why it is thought to be captured.
They shortlisted Phoebe and Iris and argued about it until the birth.