9 May 2019
echidna
[ih-kid-nuh]
1. In Greek mythology, Echidna (/ɪˈkɪdnə/; Greek: Ἔχιδνα, “She-Viper”) was a monster, half-woman and half-snake, who lived alone in a cave. She was the mate of the fearsome monster, Typhon and was the mother of monsters, including many of the most famous monsters of Greek myth. (Wikipedia)
2. Also called spiny anteater. any of several insectivorous monotremes of the genera Tachyglossus, of Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea, and Zaglossus, of New Guinea, that have claws and a slender snout and are covered with coarse hair and long spines.
Origin of echidna
New Latin (1798), originally a genus name; Latin: serpent, Echidna a mythical creature which gave birth to the Hydra and other monsters; Greek échidna, akin to échis viper
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for
Historical Examples of echidna
Echidna was a bloodthirsty monster, half maiden, half serpent.
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome
E.M. Berens
The Ornithorhyncus has fur, the Echidna has spines, with hairs between them.
Stories of the Universe: Animal Life
B. Lindsay
Man-serpent, therefore, in Dante, as Echidna is woman-serpent.
Modern Painters, Volume V (of 5)
John Ruskin
In Ornithorhynchus the zygomatic arch is much stouter than in Echidna .
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds
In Echidna the carpus is broad, the scaphoid and lunar are united and there is no centrale.
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds
Today’s quote
Not voting is not a protest. It is a surrender.
– Keith Ellison
On this day
9 May – Russian Victory Day which marks the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
9 May 1960 – the ‘pill’, a contraceptive, is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is now used by 100 million women worldwide.
9 May 1970 – 100,000 protestors gather near the White House to protest US involvement in the war in Cambodia.
9 May 1994 – Nelson Mandela is chosen by the newly-elected South African parliament to be the country’s new President.