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alastor

alastor noun: an avenging spirit or deity, variously associated with the Erinyes, Nemesis, and more.

alastor: an avenging spirit or deity, variously associated with the Erinyes, Nemesis, and more
Image: Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

alastor (plural alastors)

  1. An avenging spirit or deity, variously associated with the Erinyes, Nemesis, and more.
    • Dog, leave thy snarling, or I'll cut thy tongue out !
      Thou unlick'd bear, dar'st thou yet stand my fury,
      My generous rage? yet? By the sulphureous damps
      That feed the hungry and incessant darkness,
      Which curls around the grim Alastor's back,
      Mutter again, and with one powerful word,
      I'll call an...1778 The Dramatick Works of Beaumont and Fletcher Vol. IX. Play: The Fair Maid of the Inn.p.378
  2. In more recent ages, a term of rebuke for a pestilent rascal.
    • James Orton's choice of "Alastor" seems to have been an ironic pen name, suggesting a presumptuous voice.1852 James Orton: "Excelsior" or "The Realms of Poesie by Alastor". Private publication printed by William Pickering, London
  3. A genus of hunting wasp
    • Alastor eriurgus. . . A very common "mason wasp" in the neighbourhood of Sydney; very plentiful in February and March.
    • They are subject to the attacks of cuckoo wasps and other parasitic Hymenoptera; in one nest I found a small Bracon larva beside the young Alastor, which it soon devoured, and then spun an elongate white silken cocoon, out of which it emerged ten days after; . . . I have bred out several specimens....1895 Walter W. Froggatt On The Nests and Habits of Australian Vespidae and Larridae. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. (second series.) vol. IX 1894. p.27

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Alastor

Alastor

  1. (Greek) Any of several characters in Greek mythology, variously spirit, human, a horse of the underworld.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Alastor

Alastor

  1. A male given name from Scottish Gaelic.

alastor meaning in Tamil

alastor in Tamil

பழிவாங்கும் தெய்வம், பழிக்குப்பழி

Forms of alastor

pluralalastors

Origin of alastor

From Ancient Greek ἀλάστωρ (alástōr).

From Scottish Gaelic Alasdair, Alastair, from Old Irish Alaxander.

Words that rhyme with alastor

36 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about alastor

What does alastor mean?
Alastor means an avenging spirit or deity, variously associated with the Erinyes, Nemesis, and more.
What is alastor in Tamil?
Alastor in Tamil is பழிவாங்கும் தெய்வம், பழிக்குப்பழி. See Alastor meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is alastor?
Alastor can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of alastor?
The plural of alastor is alastors.

Words near alastor in the dictionary

  1. alaskitic
  2. alass
  3. alasses
  4. Alastair
  5. Alaster
  6. alastor
  7. alastors
  8. alastrim
  9. alatae
  10. alataes
  11. Alatau

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: alastor (page history and authors); Alastor (page history and authors); Alastor (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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