Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In mythology, a deity or supernatural power having the form and attributes of a fish, either wholly or in part, as Dagon, a divinity of the Philistines, or the Triton of the Greeks. See cut under Dagon.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • Thus Osiris or the fish-god Ea could destroy mankind.

    The Evolution of the Dragon G. Elliot Smith

  • One day, a great feast was held by the Philistines in the temple of their fish-god, Dagon.

    The Wonder Book of Bible Stories Logan [Editor] Marshall

  • Here then had been the principal temple of the fish-god Dagon, which fell nightly in presence of the Israelitish ark.

    Byeways in Palestine James Finn

  • Sayce then refers to "the curious process of development which transformed the old serpent-goddess, 'the lady Nina,' into the embodiment of all that was hostile to the powers of heaven; but after all, Nina had sprung from the fish-god of the deep [who also was both antelope and serpent as well, see p. 282], and Tiamat is herself 'the deep' in Semitic dress" (p. 283).

    The Evolution of the Dragon G. Elliot Smith

  • -- Dagon seems to have been a fish-god with human head and hands; his worshippers wore fish-skins.

    Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Part 1, Slice 1 Various

  • From this it may well be inferred that Dagon was a fish-god, a fact not in the least surprising, as he seems to have been the foremost deity of such maritime cities as Azotus, Gaza (the early sites of which are supposed to be buried under the sand-mounds that run along the sea-shore), Ascalon, and Arvad.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery 1840-1916 1913

  • We only know from ancient writers that, for religious reasons, most of the Syrian peoples abstained from eating fish, a practice that one is naturally inclined to connect with the worship of a fish-god.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery 1840-1916 1913

  • The destroyer, subduer, or fish-god, the god of the Moabites

    Easton's Bible Dictionary M.G. Easton 1897

  • The fish-god of Babylonia, however, whose image is sometimes engraved on seals, was a form of Ea, the god of the deep, and had no connection with Dagon.

    Patriarchal Palestine 1889

  • The idea that he was a fish-god is of post-Biblical date, and due to a false etymology, which derived his name from the Hebrew _dag_, "a fish."

    Patriarchal Palestine 1889

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