Word.ws English Dictionary

Niobe

UK/ˈnʌɪ.ə.bi/US/ˈnaɪ.oʊ.bi/

Niobe proper noun: a daughter of Tantalus, said to have turned into stone while weeping for her children.

Proper noun

Niobe

  1. (Greek) A daughter of Tantalus, said to have turned into stone while weeping for her children.
  2. (Greek) A daughter of Phoroneus and Teledice.
  3. 71 Niobe, a main belt asteroid.
  4. A female given name from Ancient Greek.

Noun

Niobe (plural Niobes)

  1. A crying woman; a woman who is bereaved or inconsolable.
    • With which she followed my poore Fathers body / Like Niobe, all teares.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
    • There is a word will Priam turne to stone, Make wells and Niobe’s of the maides and wiues.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

Forms of Niobe

pluralNiobes

Origin of Niobe

From Ancient Greek Νιόβη (Nióbē).

Words formed from Niobe

Questions about Niobe

What does Niobe mean?
Niobe means a daughter of Tantalus, said to have turned into stone while weeping for her children.
What part of speech is Niobe?
Niobe can be a proper noun or a noun.
How do you pronounce Niobe?
Niobe is pronounced /ˈnʌɪ.ə.bi/ (UK).

Words near Niobe in the dictionary

  1. Ninyeunook
  2. nio
  3. niobate
  4. niobates
  5. niobatian
  6. Niobe
  7. Niobean
  8. Niobes
  9. niobian
  10. niobic
  11. niobic acid

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Niobe (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.

Last updated:

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