noun
- Classical Mythology. a youth slain by a wild boar but permitted by Zeus to pass four months every year in the lower world with Persephone, four with Aphrodite, and four wherever he chose.
- a very handsome young man.
noun
- Greek myth a handsome youth loved by Aphrodite. Killed by a wild boar, he was believed to spend part of the year in the underworld and part on earth, symbolizing the vegetative cycle
- a handsome young man
“a beau,” 1620s, from Greek Adonis, name of the youth beloved by Aphrodite, from Phoenician adon “lord,” probably originally “ruler,” from base a-d-n “to judge, rule.” Adonai is the Hebrew cognate.
In classical mythology, an extremely beautiful boy who was loved by Aphrodite, the goddess of love.