Standard Lemma guide

Uranian

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

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.

  • 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.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: chthonian, chthonic, earthbound, earthly, tellurian, telluric, terrestrial

2

adj

Meaning 2

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

Usage: Greek, Roman, not-comparable

Topics: human-sciences, mysticism, mythology, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: pandemian, Pandemic

4

adj

Meaning 4

Relating to Urania, the Muse of astronomy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Greek, dated, not-comparable

Topics: human-sciences, mysticism, mythology, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Of or pertaining to astronomy; astronomical.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, historical, not-comparable, rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: uranical

Antonyms: none provided

6

adj

Meaning 6

Of or pertaining to the planet Uranus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

adj

Meaning 7

Containing hexavalent uranium.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: chemistry, geography, geology, mineralogy, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

adj

Meaning 8

Alternative letter-case form of Uranian.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

A male homosexual; also, a pederast; a man engaged in an erotic relationship with an adolescent boy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, literary

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: uranist, urning

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

An inhabitant of the planet Uranus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: literature, media, publishing, science-fiction

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