Myth & LegendGreek → English
Stygian
/ˈstɪdʒiən/adjective
Utterly dark, or belonging to the underworld.
The Greek roots
Στύξ
Stýx
river of the underworld
στυγεῖν
stygeîn
to hate, shudder at
Literally: “of the river Styx”
The story of the word
Homer's gods swore their one unbreakable oath by the water of Styx, and Hesiod says the god who broke it lay a year without breath or voice. The river's name is built on στυγεῖν, to loathe, so the water itself was the hateful thing. English kept only the darkness: a stygian corridor is one where you cannot find your own hand.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
In a sentence
The power cut left the stairwell in stygian dark.
He writes about the war in a stygian mood that never lifts.