Phryne
Phryne proper noun: an Ancient Greek courtesan of the 4th century BC, reputedly the model for Praxiteles' Aphrodite of Cnidus and famously tried for the capital charge of impiety, during which trial she allegedly bared her breasts before the judges.
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Proper noun
Phryne
- An Ancient Greek courtesan of the 4th century BC, reputedly the model for Praxiteles' Aphrodite of Cnidus and famously tried for the capital charge of impiety, during which trial she allegedly bared her breasts before the judges.
- The suffrages were recently divided between Mademoiselle Lange and Madame Tallien — the Helen and Phryne of the nation.1797, "Anthony Pasquin" (John Williams), The Pin-Basket to the Children of Thespis: With Notes Historical, Critical and Biographical, page 91
- But in the first of these instances, an impediment may be supposed to be insurmountable, which Dryden has only surmounted by the substitution of matchless beauties of his own! He wins his cause, like Phryne pleading before the Areopagus.1835, Selections from the Edinburgh Review, page 354
Origin of Phryne
From Ancient Greek Φρύνη (Phrúnē), from φρύνη (phrúnē, “toad”), a nickname often given to prostitutes of the time.
Questions about Phryne
- What does Phryne mean?
- Phryne means an Ancient Greek courtesan of the 4th century BC, reputedly the model for Praxiteles' Aphrodite of Cnidus and famously tried for the capital charge of impiety, during which trial she allegedly bared her breasts before the judges.
- What part of speech is Phryne?
- Phryne is a proper noun.
Words near Phryne in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Phryne (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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Cite this entry: “Phryne.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/phryne. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.