Word
ariel
Phoneticsariel
US/ˈɛɹiəɫ/
UK/ˈæɹiːəl/
Definitions
01moon of Uranus
n. the brightest moon of the planet Uranus.
n. the brightest and fourth-largest of the twenty-seven known moons of the planet Uranus.
“Astronomers used the telescope to get a better view of Ariel and the other moons of Uranus.”
“The Voyager 2 mission provided the first detailed images of Ariel, revealing a complex surface marked by deep canyons and vast plains.”
Technical
Usage
Always capitalized as it is a proper noun.
02literary character
n. a spirit or angel in famous English books, like Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'.
n. a spirit who appears in William Shakespeare's play 'The Tempest' and later in John Milton's 'Paradise Lost'.
“In the play, the spirit Ariel helps Prospero by using magic.”
“The character of Ariel is often portrayed as an ethereal being, representing the element of air and the desire for freedom from servitude.”
Literary
Usage
Always capitalized as it is a proper noun.
03mountain gazelle
n. a type of small deer-like animal found in the Middle East.
n. a subspecies of the mountain gazelle, Gazella gazella, native to the Arabian Peninsula.
“The ariel is a graceful animal that lives in the desert.”
“Conservationists are working to protect the ariel gazelle from habitat loss across its native range in Arabia.”
Technical
Usage
When referring to the animal species, it is often used as a common noun and not capitalized.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Biblical Hebrew אֲרִיאֵל (ari'él, a compound of אֲרִי (arí, “lion”) + אֵל (él, “God”), literally “lion of God”). * (moon of Uranus): All of Uranus’s moons are named after characters created by William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope. The names of all four satellites of Uranus then known were suggested by John Herschel in 1852 at the request of William Lassell, though it is uncertain if Herschel devised the names, or if Lassell did so and then sought Herschel’s permission. Ariel is the name of the leading sylph in Pope’s The Rape of the Lock and also the spirit who serves Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/ariel