uraeus
/jʊˈɹiː.əs/US/juˈɹi.əs/
uraeus noun: a representation of the sacred asp, symbolising supreme power in ancient Egypt.
Noun
uraeus (plural uraei or uraeuses)
- A representation of the sacred asp, symbolising supreme power in ancient Egypt.
- In front is an inlaid cobra, the Royal uræus, and around the band are attached 15 rosettes, each composed of four flowers and four leaves of openwork inlaid.20 May 1914, The Times, col. A, page 7
- even a fair amount of the gold His caravans returned from the Granite Mountains near the Red Sea, were now being fashioned by royal artisans into amulets, breast pieces, gold collars, bracelets, scarabs, uraei, even gold and silver shabti […].1983, Norman Mailer, Ancient Evenings
Forms of uraeus
| plural | uraei |
|---|---|
| plural | uraeuses |
| alternative form | uræus |
| alternative form | ouræus |
Origin of uraeus
From Latin uraeus, from Ancient Greek οὐραῖος (ouraîos). This is traditionally assumed to be from Egyptian jꜥrt (“cobra in threat posture”), i-a:r:*t-I12, from jꜥr (“to rise, climb”); however, on phonetic grounds, Gundacker, following Fecht, argues for an origin in Egyptian wrrt (“White Crown, uraeus”, literally “the great one”) instead.
Questions about uraeus
- What does uraeus mean?
- Uraeus means a representation of the sacred asp, symbolising supreme power in ancient Egypt.
- What part of speech is uraeus?
- Uraeus is a noun.
- How do you pronounce uraeus?
- Uraeus is pronounced /jʊˈɹiː.əs/ (UK).
- What is the plural of uraeus?
- The plural of uraeus is uraei.
Words near uraeus in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: uraeus (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-uraeus.wav.
Cite this entry: “uraeus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/uraeus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.