Definitions

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

  • noun A sacred bull of the ancient Egyptians, revered as an intermediary between Ptah and humans.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A genus of melliferous or anthophilous aculeate hymenopterous insects, the type of the family Apidœ and of the suborder Mellifera or Anthophila; the hive-bees.
  • noun A small southern constellation situated between the Cross and the Chameleon. Same as Musca.
  • noun The sacred bull of the ancient Egyptians, to which divine honors were paid.

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

  • noun (Zoöl.) A genus of insects of the order Hymenoptera, including the common honeybee (Apis mellifica) and other related species. See honeybee.

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

  • noun type genus of the Apidae: honeybees

Etymologies

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

[Latin Āpis, from Greek, from Egyptian ḥp.]

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Examples

  • But the sacred bulls, the one called Apis and the other Mnevis, were dedicated to Osiris, and it was ordained that they should be worshipped as gods in common by all the Egyptians, since these animals above all others had helped the discoverers of corn in sowing the seed and procuring the universal benefits of agriculture.

    Chapter 38. The Myth of Osiris 1922

  • But the sacred bulls, the one called Apis and the other

    The Golden Bough James George Frazer 1897

  • They thought that the great God lived among them in the shape of a bull with one spot on his back like an eagle, and one on his tongue like a beetle; and this creature they called Apis, and tended with the utmost care.

    The Chosen People A Compendium of Sacred and Church History for School-Children Charlotte Mary Yonge 1862

  • But the sacred bulls, the one called Apis and the other Mnevis, were dedicated to

    The Golden Bough : a study of magic and religion 1583

  • Dimitrijevic ( "Apis" - the "Holy Bull" was his endearing nickname, or, perhaps, the bee, from the Latin root, as Petrovic, the attache to the Serbia legation in London has it in "Black Hand Over Europe" by Heneri Pozzi) planned it all in 1901.

    Terrorists and Freedom Fighters Samuel Vaknin

  • But the sacred bulls, the one called Apis and the other Mnevis, were dedicated to Osiris, and it was ordained that they should be worshipped as gods in common by all the Egyptians, since these animals above all others had helped the discoverers of corn in sowing the seed and procuring the universal benefits of agriculture. "

    The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion 1922

  • The scene is being repeated throughout the country, where honeybees, scientifically known as Apis mellifera, are required to pollinate a third of the nation's food crops, including almonds, cherries, blueberries, pears, strawberries and pumpkins.

    WHAT THE VANISHING BEES ARE TELLING US 2007

  • This calf which is called Apis is black and has the following signs, namely a white square427 upon the forehead, and on the back the likeness of an eagle, and in the tail the hairs are double, and on428 the tongue there is a mark like

    The History of Herodotus Herodotus 2003

  • “I can forsee great fights when I get back,” he wrote to Hopwood from his last camp at a site called Apis Rock.

    Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995

  • “I can forsee great fights when I get back,” he wrote to Hopwood from his last camp at a site called Apis Rock.

    Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995

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