Meaning & use
Daedalus
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Meanings
proper nounproper
In Greek myth, the skilled inventor who built the Labyrinth for King Minos and made wings of feathers and wax so he and his son could escape.
Grammar: Always capitalized and used without an article: Daedalus built the maze.
Patterns
- Daedalus and Icarus
According to the myth, Daedalus built a maze to hold the Minotaur.
Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun.
The sculpture shows Daedalus fitting wings onto Icarus.
proper nounproperliteraryfigurative
A name used for a clever inventor or master craftsman, especially in literature.
Grammar: Often used as a comparison: a Daedalus of modern engineering.
Patterns
- a Daedalus of something
The novelist called the architect a Daedalus of glass and steel.
Stephen Dedalus, the hero of James Joyce's novel, takes his name from the myth.
The workshop's owner was a true Daedalus, building clever gadgets from scrap.
Common combinations
- Daedalus and Icarus
- The story of Daedalus and Icarus warns against pride.
- the myth of Daedalus
- We read the myth of Daedalus in class.
- wings of Daedalus
- Inventors dreamed of copying the wings of Daedalus.
- Daedalus built
- Daedalus built a maze that no one could leave.
- labyrinth of Daedalus
- Theseus found his way out of the labyrinth of Daedalus.
Word family
Commonly confused: Daedalus or Icarus?
Daedalus vs Icarus
Icarus was the son of Daedalus, who flew too near the sun and fell. Daedalus was the father and inventor who made the wings.
Practice
In Greek myth, who built the Labyrinth and the wings used to escape from it?
Choose one answer.
Daedalus was the craftsman. Icarus was his son and wore the wings, Minos was the king who ordered the maze, and Theseus entered it to defeat the Minotaur.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Daedalus”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.