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Meaning & use

Zeus

proper noun·Everyday

Last updated

UK/zjuːs/
US/zuːs/

Meanings

  1. proper nounproper

    In Greek mythology, the most powerful god, who rules the sky, thunder and lightning.

    Grammar: A name, so no article and no plural: Zeus, not 'the Zeus'.

    Patterns

    • Zeus was the god of something
    • the temple of Zeus
    • Zeus's anger

    In Greek mythology, Zeus ruled the sky and threw thunderbolts at anyone who angered him.

    The temple of Zeus at Olympia once held a huge statue of the god.

    Many Greek cities claimed that Zeus was their special protector.

  2. proper nounproperraretechnical

    The planet Jupiter, when it is named after the Greek god in older astronomy texts.

    Grammar: Used as a name for the planet; today astronomers normally just say Jupiter.

    Patterns

    • the planet Zeus

    Some old star charts label the bright planet Zeus rather than Jupiter.

    In that translation the astronomer calls the fifth planet Zeus.

  3. proper nounpropercomputinginformal

    A code name used for a powerful computer or software system in technology writing.

    Grammar: A name given to a product or project; capital Z, no article.

    Patterns

    • project Zeus
    • the Zeus server

    The team gave its new cloud platform the code name Zeus.

    Engineers joked that the Zeus machine was too powerful for the office.

Common combinations

the god Zeus
The god Zeus appears in hundreds of Greek myths.
Zeus's thunderbolt
Only Zeus's thunderbolt could end the argument among the gods.
a statue of Zeus
Tourists photograph the marble statue of Zeus in the museum.
the temple of Zeus
The temple of Zeus was one of the wonders of the ancient world.
in Greek mythology, Zeus ...
In Greek mythology, Zeus is the father of many heroes.
the wrath of Zeus
Sailors feared the wrath of Zeus when storms blew up.

Synonyms and how they differ

Jupiter
The Roman name for the same sky god; use Jupiter when you are talking about Roman rather than Greek stories.
Jove
An older poetic name for Jupiter, common in English poetry but not in modern myth lessons.

Word family

Zeus-like adjective
Resembling Zeus, especially in being powerful or commanding.

Commonly confused: Zeus or Zoos? Zeus or Jesus?

Zeus vs Zoos

Sounds almost the same in some accents, but 'zoos' is the plural of 'zoo', a place where animals are kept.

Zeus vs Jesus

A different name from a different tradition; learners sometimes mix the spelling because both start with 'Z/J' sounds in some languages.

Practice

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