What does scylla mean?

Definitions for scylla
ˈsɪl əscyl·la

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word scylla.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. Scyllanoun

    (Greek mythology) a sea nymph transformed into a sea monster who lived on one side of a narrow strait; drowned and devoured sailors who tried to escape Charybdis (a whirlpool) on the other side of the strait

Wiktionary

  1. Scyllanoun

    A dangerous rock on the Italian coast opposite the whirlpool Charybdis on the coast of Sicily. The passage between Scylla and Charybdis was formerly considered perilous; hence, the saying between Scylla and Charybdis signifies a great peril on either hand.

  2. Scyllanoun

    A personification of the above rock as a ravenous monster.

  3. Etymology: From Σκύλλα.

Wikipedia

  1. Scylla

    In Greek mythology, Scylla ( SIL-ə; Greek: Σκύλλα, translit. Skúlla, pronounced [skýl.la]) is a legendary monster who lives on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite her counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait are within an arrow's range of each other—so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis would pass dangerously close to Scylla and vice versa. Scylla is first attested in Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus and his crew encounter her and Charybdis on their travels. Later myth provides an origin story as a beautiful nymph who gets turned into a monster.Book Three of Virgil's Aeneid associates the strait where Scylla dwells with the Strait of Messina between Calabria, a region of Southern Italy, and Sicily. The coastal town of Scilla in Calabria takes its name from the mythological figure of Scylla and it is said to be the home of the nymph. The idiom "between Scylla and Charybdis" has come to mean being forced to choose between two similarly dangerous situations.

ChatGPT

  1. scylla

    Scylla, in Greek mythology, is a legendary monster who lives on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite to Charybdis, another sea monster. Depicted as a creature with six heads on long flexible necks, each head has a single gaping mouth that is lined with three rows of sharp teeth. Her body consists of twelve tentacle-like legs and a cat's tail. She is known for terrorizing sailors who try to navigate the channel. The term "between Scylla and Charybdis" has come to mean being in a situation where avoiding one danger exposes one to another danger. In biology, Scylla also refers to a genus of swimming crabs, known as mud crabs or mangrove crabs, found in the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic regions.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Scyllanoun

    a dangerous rock on the Italian coast opposite the whirpool Charybdis on the coast of Sicily, -- both personified in classical literature as ravenous monsters. The passage between them was formerly considered perilous; hence, the saying "Between Scylla and Charybdis," signifying a great peril on either hand

Wikidata

  1. Scylla

    In Greek mythology, Scylla was a monster that lived on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite its counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait were within an arrow's range of each other—so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis would pass too close to Scylla and vice versa. Traditionally the strait has been associated with the Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily. The idiom "between Scylla and Charybdis" has come to mean being between two dangers, choosing either of which brings harm.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Scylla

    sil′a, n. a six-headed monster who sat over a dangerous rock on the Italian side of the Straits of Messina, over against the whirlpool of Charyb′dis on the Sicilian side.—n. Scyllæa (sil-ē′a), a genus of nudibranchiate gasteropods.—n.pl. Scyllar′idæ (-dē), a family of long-tailed, ten-footed marine crustaceans.

Mythology

  1. Scylla

    (Scyl′la). A beautiful nymph who excited the jealousy of Neptune’s wife, Amphitrite, and was changed by the goddess into a frightful sea-monster, which had six fearfully ugly heads and necks, and which, rising unexpectedly from the deep, used to take off as many as six sailors from a vessel, and carry them to the bottom of the sea. An alternative danger with the whirlpool, Charybdis, which threatened destruction to all mariners.

    “There on the right her dogs foul Scylla hides, Charybdis roaring on the left presides.” (Virgil.)

  2. Scylla

    (Scyl′la). A daughter of Nysus, who was changed into a lark for cutting off a charmed lock of her father’s hair.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of scylla in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of scylla in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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"scylla." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/scylla>.

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