adj · noun · 10 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
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Received-Pronunciation:/jʊˈɹeɪnɪən/
Received-Pronunciation:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/jʊˈɹeɪniən/
rhymes with -eɪniən
1
adj
Meaning 1
Celestial, heavenly; uranic.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: comparable, literary, poetic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Homosexual; also, pederastic; relating to a man's erotic love for adolescent boys; (specifically) of poetry: conveying appreciation for young men.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, comparable, literary
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: uranic, uranistic, homophile, homosexual, like that, queer, similisexual, that way
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Of Aphrodite Urania, the heavenly aspect of the Greek goddess of beauty and love Aphrodite and her Roman counterpart Venus, as contrasted with the earthly aspect known as Aphrodite Pandemos: heavenly, spiritual.
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 Ūrania (“muse of astronomy in Greek mythology”) + -an (suffix forming agent nouns). Ūrania is derived from Ancient Greek Οὐρᾰνῐ́ᾱ (Ourănĭ́ā, “muse of astronomy”), from οὐράνιος (ouránios, “of or relating to the sky, celestial, heavenly”) (from οὐρανός (ouranós, “the sky; heaven, home of the gods; the universe”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h1wers- (“rain”)) + -ιος (-ios, suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘pertaining to’). The alternative form Ouranian is derived from Ancient Greek οὐράνιος (ouránios). Adjective sense 2 (“homosexual”) and the noun sense (“a homosexual”) refer to Plato’s work Symposium (c. 385–370 B.C.E.), where the goddess Aphrodite, in her heavenly aspect Aphrodite Urania (see adjective sense 3) is described as inspiring a noble form of affection between older and younger men. Compare German Urning (“a homosexual, Uranian”), Urnigtum (“homosexuality”), also referring to Aphrodite Urania, coined by the German writer Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825–1895) in 1864. By the 1900s, the use of the word in this sense had largely been supplanted by homosexual (see further at that entry). The term is no longer mainstream and is almost never used in modern contexts, though it has enjoyed a slight revival as a term for "gay man" as an analogue to lesbian.
From Uranus + -ian.
Across languages
Translations
15 source translations are retained for this English entry.
French:
uranien
— celestial, heavenly — see also celestial, heavenly
French:
uranienne
— celestial, heavenly — see also celestial, heavenly
French:
uranien
— of or pertaining to the planet Uranus
Irish:
Úránasach
— of or pertaining to the planet Uranus
Italian:
uraniano
— of or pertaining to the planet Uranus
Portuguese:
urânio
— of or pertaining to the planet Uranus
Bulgarian:
педераст
(pederast)
— male homosexual
French:
uranien
— male homosexual
French:
uraniste
— male homosexual
German:
Urning
— male homosexual
Chinese Mandarin:
天王星人
(tiānwángxīngrén)
— inhabitant of the planet Uranus
French:
Uranien
— inhabitant of the planet Uranus
French:
Uranienne
— inhabitant of the planet Uranus
Irish:
Úránasach
— inhabitant of the planet Uranus
Japanese:
天王星人
(Tennōsei-jin)
— inhabitant of the planet Uranus