Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
The official wand carried by a herald in ancient Greece and Rome, specifically the one carried in mythology by Hermes, the messenger of the gods, usually represented with two snakes twined around it.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: golden wand
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A symbol (☤) representing a staff with two snakes wrapped around it, used to indicate merchants and messengers. It is also sometimes incorrectly substituted for the rod of Asclepius as a symbol of medicine.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
an insignia used by the medical profession; modeled after the staff of Hermes
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: insignia
History
Via Latin cādūceus, cādūceum, adaptation of Doric Ancient Greek καρύκειον (karúkeion, “herald’s wand or staff”). This and Attic Greek κηρύκειον (kērúkeion) are derived from κῆρυξ (kêrux, “herald, public messenger”). Related to κηρύσσω (kērússō, “to announce”).
Across languages
18 source translations are retained for this English entry.
