Word.ws English Dictionary

Paphian

/ˈpeɪfɪən/

Paphian adjective: of, from or relating to Paphos, the mythical birthplace of the goddess of love on the island of Cyprus.

Adjective

Paphian (not comparable)

  1. Of, from or relating to Paphos, the mythical birthplace of the goddess of love on the island of Cyprus.
    • […] the Paphian deitie,1611, Homer, translated by George Chapman, Iliads, page 281
    • Then thus incensed, the Paphian queen replies: / "Obey the power from whom thy glories rise: / Should Venus leave thee, every charm must fly, / Fade from thy cheek, and languish in thy eye. / Cease to provoke me, lest I make thee more / The world’s aversion, than their love before; / Now the bright...1715–1720, Homer, “Book III”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC
  2. (literary) Pertaining to love or sexual desire, especially when illicit.
    • Cease admiration, sit to Cupid's feast, / The preparation to Paphian dalliance.1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, act III scene 4
    • I lay, as it were, in the Paphian bower of bliss, in a state of exquisite sensations quite impossible to describe.1873, Anonymous (William Potter), The Romance of Lust; or, Early Experiences, volume I, William Lazenby

Noun

Paphian (plural Paphians)

  1. A native or inhabitant of Paphos.
    • Then there is the mastus. Apollodorus the Cyrenæan, as Pamphilus says, states that this is a name given to drinking-cups by the Paphians.1854, Athenaeus of Naucratis, translated by Charles Duke Yonge, The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned, volume II, page 777
  2. (literary) A prostitute.
    • They reach'd the hotel: forth stream'd from the front door / A tide of well-clad waiters, and around / The mob stood, and as usual several score / Of those pedestrian Paphians who abound / In decent London when the daylight's o'er; / Commodious but immoral, they are found / Useful, like Malthus, in...1824, Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto the Eleventh, XXX
    • A smile I had learned to know elsewhere lurked at one corner of my paphian's mouth.1980, Gene Wolfe, chapter 9, in The Shadow of the Torturer

Forms of Paphian

pluralPaphians

Origin of Paphian

From Latin Paphius [from Ancient Greek Πάφιος (Páphios), from Πάφος (Páphos, “Paphos”) + -ιος (-ios)] + English -an.

Questions about Paphian

What does Paphian mean?
Paphian means of, from or relating to Paphos, the mythical birthplace of the goddess of love on the island of Cyprus.
What part of speech is Paphian?
Paphian can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce Paphian?
Paphian is pronounced /ˈpeɪfɪən/ (UK).

Words near Paphian in the dictionary

  1. papess
  2. papesses
  3. papeterie
  4. papeteries
  5. papgeld
  6. Paphian
  7. Paphians
  8. paphiopedilum
  9. paphiopedilums
  10. Paphlagonia
  11. Paphlagonian

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Paphian (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Paphian.wav.

Cite this entry: “Paphian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paphian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.