Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of the minor woodland deities and companions of Dionysus, depicted on Greek vases as men with the tails, ears, and hooves of horses.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Gr. myth, a divinity of Asiatic origin, the foster-father of Bacchus, and leader of the satyrs, but very frequently merely one of a number of kindred attendants in the Dionysiae thiasus.
  • noun In entomology, a genus of coleopterous insects of the family Eucnemidæ. Same as Anelastes, Latreille.
  • noun In mammal, a genus of macaques, named from Macacus silenus, the wanderoo.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) See wanderoo.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of the minor woodland deities who were companions of Dionysus (similar to the satyrs)
  • noun the chief satyr in the service of Bacchus; father of Dionysus; usually depicted as drunk and jolly and riding a donkey

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin sīlēnus, from Greek sīlēnos, from Sīlēnos, Silenus.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word silenus.

Examples

  • Description: Forest fragmentation is threatening populations of the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) by separating sub-populations and restricting them to small fragments with high population densities.

    Biodiversity 100: actions for Asia Guillaume Chapron 2010

  • The charismatic endangered lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) and Nilgiri macaque (Semnopithecus johnii) are other endemic species that need intact habitat and are highly threatened by habitat conversion.

    South Western Ghats montane rain forests 2008

  • Inuus _vel_ Macacus silenus (_Lion Monkey_) 24 18.

    Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Robert Armitage Sterndale 1870

  • There has been a certain amount of confusion between this animal and _Inuus silenus_, the lion monkey, which had the name _Wanderu_ applied to it by Buffon, and it is so figured in

    Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Robert Armitage Sterndale 1870

  • (_Jerdon_), also Ceylon (_Cuvier_ and _Horsfield_), though not confirmed by Emerson Tennent, who states that the _silenus_ is not found in the island except as introduced by Arab horse-dealers occasionally, and that it certainly is not indigenous.

    Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Robert Armitage Sterndale 1870

  • Is the male Macacus silenus furnished with longer hair than the female about the neck and face?

    More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 Charles Darwin 1845

  • i agree with silenus! do these MPs not listen to the mood of the public. i am astonished that beckett is even being considered for speaker especially with her track record on expenses. it's a joke!

    Top stories from Times Online 2009

  • Macacus silenus L., an Indian ape.) has a great mane of hair round neck, and passing into large whiskers and beard.

    More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 Charles Darwin 1845

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Tipsy person. (from Phrontistery)

    May 23, 2008