phaethon Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun (Greek mythology) son of Helios; killed when trying to drive his father's chariot and came too close to earth
  2. noun type genus of the Phaethontidae
    genus Phaethon.

WordNet

Pha"ë*thon noun (Also<
  • Phaethon
  • Phaëthon
)
Etymology
L., Phaëthon (in sense 1), fr. Gr. , fr. , , to shine. See Phantom.
Definitions
  1. (Class. Myth.) The son of Helios (Phoebus), that is, the son of light, or of the sun. He is fabled to have obtained permission to drive the chariot of the sun, in doing which his want of skill would have set the world on fire, had he not been struck with a thunderbolt by Jupiter, and hurled headlong into the river Po.
  2. (Zoöl.) A genus of oceanic birds including the tropic birds.

Webster 1913