Standard Lemma guide

uraeus

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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

Pronunciation

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.

  • UK: /jʊˈɹiː.əs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /juˈɹi.əs/
  • US: /juˈɹeɪ.əs/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A representation of the sacred asp, symbolising supreme power in ancient Egypt.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin uraeus, from Ancient Greek οὐραῖος (ouraîos). This is traditionally assumed to be from Egyptian jꜥrt (“cobra in threat posture”), i-a:r:*t-I12, from jꜥr (“to rise, climb”); however, on phonetic grounds, Gundacker, following Fecht, argues for an origin in Egyptian wrrt (“White Crown, uraeus”, literally “the great one”) instead.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: ureus — representation of the sacred asp
  • French: uræus — representation of the sacred asp
  • French: uraeus — representation of the sacred asp
  • German: Uräusschlange — representation of the sacred asp
  • Ancient Greek: οὐραῖος (ouraîos) — representation of the sacred asp
  • Italian: ureo — representation of the sacred asp
  • Polish: ureusz — representation of the sacred asp
  • Polish: ureus — representation of the sacred asp
  • Portuguese: ureu — representation of the sacred asp
  • Spanish: ureo — representation of the sacred asp
  • Spanish: uraeus — representation of the sacred asp