What does cyclops mean?
A cyclops is, in classical Greek mythology, a member of a race of fearsome giants distinguished by a single round eye set in the middle of the forehead. The best-known cyclops is Polyphemus, the cave-dwelling shepherd who trapped Odysseus and his companions and was blinded in Homer's Odyssey. The Greeks imagined these beings as violent, lawless herdsmen living at the edge of the civilized world, though another tradition made them master craftsmen who forged Zeus's thunderbolts. Beyond mythology, the word is used more generally for anything possessing a single eye, from a character in fiction to certain microscopic crustaceans found in fresh water. Derived forms include the adjective 'Cyclopean', applied to the colossal stone walls the ancients attributed to these giants. Today the cyclops endures as a vivid symbol of brute force and monstrous otherness in literature, film, and popular culture, making it one of mythology's most instantly recognizable figures.
nounIn Greek mythology, a Cyclops is one of a race of one-eyed giants, including Polyphemus, who imprisoned Odysseus and his men in his cave. In modern usage, the word can also describe any person or creature with a single central eye.
- A member of a race of one-eyed giants in Greek mythology.
- A person or animal having only one eye.
"Odysseus blinded the Cyclops Polyphemus and escaped his cave by clinging to the undersides of sheep."
"According to Homer, the savage Cyclops devoured several of Odysseus's crew before the hero devised his escape."
"The microscope slide revealed a tiny freshwater crustacean known as a cyclops, darting through a drop of pond water."
The standard plural follows Latin/Greek convention: Cyclopes, pronounced /saɪˈkloʊpiːz/ in English. Note that 'Cyclopes' is also the scientific name of a genus of tiny copepod crustaceans — an unrelated zoological usage sharing the name.
"Hesiod describes three Cyclopes who forged Zeus's thunderbolts."
The ancient Greeks blamed the massive stone walls of Mycenae on a lost race of one-eyed giants — which is why we still call such masonry 'Cyclopean'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cyclops
The word comes from Latin Cyclops, itself borrowed from the ancient Greek Kyklōps, meaning literally 'round-eye' or 'circle-eye', from kyklos (circle, wheel) plus ōps (eye). It entered English in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries through translations of classical texts. The Greek root kyklos also gives English words such as cyclic and encyclopedia, while the derived adjective Cyclopean describes massive ancient masonry once attributed to these mythical builders.
Related word forms
How cyclops is actually used
Plural is 'Cyclopes' in mythological contexts. The word carries connotations of monstrosity and brute strength; 'Cyclopean' as an adjective describes massive, primitive stonework.
Easily confused with cyclops
Cyclopes (pronounced differently, from Greek) refers to plural or to the small primate genus of the same name, whereas cyclops is the singular mythological giant.