lamia
nounUK /ˈleɪmɪə/ · US /ˈleɪ.mi.ə/
Etymology From Latin lamia, from Ancient Greek Λάμια (Lámia).
1
Human sciences, Mysticism, Mythology, Philosophy, Sciences Greek A monster preying upon human beings, who sucked the blood of children, often described as having the head and breasts of a woman and the lower half of a serpent.
- Coordinate term: naga
- Apollonius […] by some probable conjectures, found her out to be a serpent, a lamia, and that all her furniture was like Tantalus' gold described by Homer, no substance, but mere illusions.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition III, section 2, member 1, subsection i:
- Synonyms
- vampire