Word of the Day
: June 3, 2012halcyon
playWhat It Means
1 : calm, peaceful
2 : happy, golden
3 : prosperous, affluent
halcyon in Context
Although Grandma spoke longingly of the halcyon days of her childhood, Jamie suspected all had not been as perfect as she recalled.
"It was a halcyon period for her, although she continued to take prescription drugs, a portent of problems that lay ahead." - From Lois Banner's 2012 biography Marilyn: The Passion and Paradox of Marilyn Monroe
Did You Know?
According to Greek mythology, Alkyone, the daughter of the god of the winds, became so distraught when she learned that her husband had been killed in a shipwreck that she threw herself into the sea and was changed into a kingfisher. As a result, ancient Greeks called such birds "alkyon" or "halkyon." The legend also says that such birds built floating nests on the sea, where they so charmed the wind god that he created a period of unusual calm that lasted until the birds' eggs hatched. This legend prompted people to use "halcyon" both as a noun naming a genus of kingfisher and as an adjective meaning either "of or relating to the kingfisher or its nesting period" or "calm."
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Name That Synonym
What synonym of "halcyon" rhymes with "acid"? The answer is ...
