Word.ws English Dictionary

Gates of Hercules

Gates of Hercules proper noun: the two rocky eminences on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar.

Proper noun

the Gates of Hercules pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only) The two rocky eminences on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar.
    • The bold little ships even broke through the Gates of Hercules to the open ocean, coasting then northward to take the gold of Ireland and the tin of Cornwall, as well as southward, around the bulge of Senegal, to remote Yorubaland and the distant marts of ivory, gold, and slaves.1968, Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 2nd edition, London: Fontana Press, published 1993, page 14

Questions about Gates of Hercules

What does Gates of Hercules mean?
Gates of Hercules means the two rocky eminences on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar.
What part of speech is Gates of Hercules?
Gates of Hercules is a proper noun.

Words near Gates of Hercules in the dictionary

  1. gaters
  2. gates
  3. Gates County
  4. Gates of Alexander
  5. gates of hell
  6. Gates of Hercules
  7. gates of horn
  8. gates of ivory
  9. gates off
  10. Gateses
  11. Gateshead

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Gates of Hercules (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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