Molossian

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word Molossian. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word Molossian, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say Molossian in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word Molossian you have here. The definition of the word Molossian will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofMolossian, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

The Molossians’ (sense 1) region
The “Jennings Dog”, a Roman copy of a lost Greek bronze statue of the Molossian hound (sense 2), on display in the British Museum

Etymology

From Molossia +‎ -n.[1]

Noun

Molossian (plural Molossians)

  1. A member of the ancient Epirote ethnos which Olympias came from.
  2. A breed of large dog of classical antiquity native to Epirus, resembling a mastiff and used as a hunting dog and guard dog.
    Synonyms: Molossian dog, Molossian hound, Molossus
    • 1896, Henryk Sienkiewicz, chapter LV, in Jeremiah Curtin, transl., “Quo Vadis.” A Narrative of the Time of Nero., Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, and Company, page 432:
      But meanwhile a new grating was opened, and into the arena rushed, with mad speed and barking, whole packs of dogs,—gigantic, yellow Molossians from the Peloponnesus, pied dogs from the Pyrenees, and wolf-like hounds from Hibernia, purposely famished; their sides were lank, and their eyes bloodshot.
    • 1975, Roger Longrigg, The History of Foxhunting, page 14:
      The hounds were Indian, Cretan or Locrian; there were also Molossians (mastiffs) and Spartans (big greyhounds).
    • 2012, Michael Bryant, 28 Seconds: A True Story of Addiction, Tragedy, and Hope, Viking:
      One constituent spent an hour educating me on the history of pit bulls: the Molossians, the Mastiffs; the Greeks, Romans, Brits, Tibetans, and Germans; the crossbreeds. A common theme ran throughout their history: they were the fiercest of fighters, and eventually bred to fight—in wars during antiquity, in dog fights for centuries. Regardless, they were again and again attacking other dogs and people.
    • 2017, Mary Dove, “Quintus”, in The End of Seven, Dog Ear Publishing, →ISBN, page 194:
      He loved dogs, indulged by Antius’ kennel composed of Neapolitan mastiffs and molossians, original Roman war dogs.

Translations

Adjective

Molossian (comparative more Molossian, superlative most Molossian)

  1. Of or relating to Molossia or Molossians.

References

  1. ^ “Molossian”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Further reading

Anagrams

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia