Definitions for Achilles
əˈkɪl izachilles

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:2.3 / 3 votes

1. Achillesnoun

   a mythical Greek hero of the Iliad; a foremost Greek warrior at the siege of Troy; when he was a baby his mother tried to make him immortal by bathing him in a magical river but the heel by which she held him remained vulnerable--his `Achilles' heel'

WiktionaryRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. Achillesnoun

   semi-divine hero, son of Peleus and the nymph Thetis, prince and leader of the Myrmidons; great warrior of the Achaean (Greek) camp, killed in the Trojan War; central character of the Iliad.

2. Etymology: From Ἀχιλλεύς.

WikipediaRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. Achilles

   In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ə-KIL-eez) or Achilleus (Ancient Greek: Ἀχιλλεύς, [a.kʰilˈleu̯s]) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and is the central character of Homer's Iliad. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, king of Phthia. Achilles' most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan prince Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the Iliad, other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him in the heel with an arrow. Later legends (beginning with Statius' unfinished epic Achilleid, written in the 1st century AD) state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel because, when his mother Thetis dipped him in the river Styx as an infant, she held him by one of his heels. Alluding to these legends, the term "Achilles' heel" has come to mean a point of weakness, especially in someone or something with an otherwise strong constitution. The Achilles tendon is also named after him due to these legends.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. achilles

   Achilles is a key character from Greek mythology, known as a hero of the Trojan War and the central character in Homer's epic poem, "The Iliad." He is famously known for his only vulnerability being his heel, often referred to as 'Achilles' heel.' This trait has been widely used as a metaphor to symbolize a point of weakness, despite overall strength. In the context of anatomy, the Achilles tendon, located in the back of the lower leg, is named after this character due to its comparative vulnerability to injury.

WikidataRate this definition:2.0 / 8 votes

1. Achilles

   In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War and the central character and greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad. Achilles was said to be a demigod; his mother was the nymph Thetis, and his father, Peleus, was the king of the Myrmidons. Achilles’ most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan hero Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the Iliad, other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him in the heel with an arrow. Later legends state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel. Because of his death from a small wound in the heel, the term Achilles' heel has come to mean a person's point of weakness.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. achilles

   The name of a tendon in the human body.

   The achilles tendon is an important tendon in the human body.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on December 26, 2020  

MythologyRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Achilles

   (Achil′les) was the most valiant of the Greek heroes in the Trojan War. He was the son of Peleus, King of Thessaly. His mother, Thetis, plunged him, when an infant, into the Stygian pool, which made him invulnerable wherever the waters had washed him; but the heel by which he was held was not wetted, and that part remained vulnerable. He was shot with an arrow in the heel by Paris, at the siege of Troy, and died of his wound.

Who Was Who?Rate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Achilles

   A baby whose mother gave him a bath but forgot to wash all of his feet. Later was veteran of the siege of Troy. Died before receiving pension.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ACHILLES

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Achilles is ranked #35489 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Achilles surname appeared 634 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Achilles.
   
   91% or 577 total occurrences were White.
   3.9% or 25 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   1.7% or 11 total occurrences were Black.
   1.5% or 10 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   0.9% or 6 total occurrences were Asian.
   0.7% or 5 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

1. • Mythical Being

How to pronounce Achilles?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Achilles in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Achilles in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Achilles in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of Achilles in a Sentence

1. Executive Martin Daum said:

   You cannot have enough expertise in this area. Our Achilles' heel is the ability to quickly develop software.

2. Sir Thomas Browne:

   I am the happiest man alive. I have that in me that can convert poverty into riches, adversity to prosperity, and I am more invulnerable than Achilles; fortune hath not one place to hit me.

3. London Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley:

   We have a growing Achilles heel that, if it is not tackled, will slowly diminish our ability to keep the public safe, if we are glibly creating a safe operating environment for criminals and terrorists, we are going to regret it.

4. David Geier:

   Achilles tendinopathy often affects running athletes, while patellar or knee joint tendinopathy often bothers people who play repetitive jumping sports like basketball.

5. Bill Maher:

   I feel like that’s the Achilles heel of the left right now. They identify issues mostly by what they can feel superior to another person for.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Achilles
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Achilles
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achilles
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=Achilles
6. ^ Mythology
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/42474/pg42474-images.html#:~:text=Achilles
7. ^ Who Was Who?
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/984/pg984-images.html#:~:text=Achilles
8. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
   https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html