Word.ws English Dictionary

Briseis

UK/bɹaɪˈsiːɪs/

Briseis proper noun: a legendary figure who features in the Iliad; a princess granted as concubine to Achilles after the sacking of her city, Lyrnessus, before the beginning of the story.

briseis: a legendary figure who features in the Iliad; a princess granted as concubine to Achilles after the...
Image: Johann Heinrich Tischbein, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Proper noun

Briseis

  1. (Greek) A legendary figure who features in the Iliad; a princess granted as concubine to Achilles after the sacking of her city, Lyrnessus, before the beginning of the story.
    • So Akhilleus calls an assembly — any oddness in his doing so at this juncture is mitigated by Thetis' instructions (34–6) — and much of the Book is occupied with the speeches of reconciliation and the handing over of Briseis and Agamemnon's gifts.1991, Mark W. Edwards, The Iliad: A Commentary: Volume V, books 17–20, Cambridge University Press, published 1995, page 234
    • 1993 [Random House (Knopf)], Tim Parks (translator), Roberto Calasso, The Marriage Of Cadmus And Harmony, 1994, Random House (Vintage), page 90,
      And the Iliad was founded on a play of words, the substitution of a couple of letters in a name. Briseis, Chryseis. The bone of contention that triggers...
    Synonyms:
    Hippodameia
  2. The minor planet 655 Briseïs.

Synonyms of Briseis

Forms of Briseis

alternative formBriseida
alternative formBriseide
alternative formBriseïs

Origin of Briseis

Borrowing from Ancient Greek Βρισηΐς (Brisēḯs, “daughter of Briseus/Brises”).

Questions about Briseis

What does Briseis mean?
Briseis means a legendary figure who features in the Iliad; a princess granted as concubine to Achilles after the sacking of her city, Lyrnessus, before the beginning of the story.
What part of speech is Briseis?
Briseis is a proper noun.
How do you pronounce Briseis?
Briseis is pronounced /bɹaɪˈsiːɪs/ (UK).

Words near Briseis in the dictionary

  1. Briscos
  2. brise
  3. brise soleil
  4. brise soleils
  5. brise-bise
  6. Briseis
  7. brisement
  8. Brisendine
  9. Brisendines
  10. Briseno
  11. Brisenos

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Briseis (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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