Medea

noun

Me·​dea mə-ˈdē-ə How to pronounce Medea (audio)
: an enchantress noted in Greek mythology for helping Jason gain the Golden Fleece and for repeatedly resorting to murder to gain her ends

Examples of Medea in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Emphasizing the urgent need for safe havens helped paint a dark portrait of a country in moral decline, where madwomen emerge from the attic and Medea crosses the border to the United States. Maria Laurino, The New Republic, 29 June 2023 The ancient ancestors of the Georgians even show up in Greek myth, as the Colchis of Medea. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 16 May 2011 Angela, for example, who was obese and bursting out of cowgirl clothes and screamed expletives at the sky like a rodeo Medea. Christian Wiman, Harper's Magazine, 14 Dec. 2022 In 2020, the two performed in Australian writer-director Simon Stone’s Medea play before it was shut down due to the pandemic. Liza Esquibias, Peoplemag, 24 May 2023 The higher register opened to her more of the great female protagonists of opera, among them Richard Strauss’s Salome, Bellini’s Norma, Puccini’s Tosca and Cherubini’s Medea — as well as Aida, Amneris’s Ethiopian rival. Emily Langer, Washington Post, 8 May 2023 Ron Faber, who appeared on Broadway in the 1970s alongside Henry Fonda in First Monday in October and with Irene Papas in Medea, died March 26 in New York after a two-month battle with lung cancer, a publicist announced. Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Apr. 2023 Daniels plays all the men of the modern-dress drama and, most important, imperious Jason, foolishly unable to grasp the magnitude of Medea’s devastation. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 18 Apr. 2023 Although fictional accounts, from antiquity until today, have offered us terrible, even treacherous mothers, including Euripides’s Medea and Livia Soprano, depictions of unrealistically all-good mothers, such as Marmee from Little Women, are more common and provide a sense of comfort. Daphne Merkin, The Atlantic, 31 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Medea.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin, from Greek Mēdeia

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Medea was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near Medea

Cite this Entry

“Medea.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Medea. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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