'Phaethon' definitions:

Definition of 'Phaethon'

(from WordNet)
noun
(Greek mythology) son of Helios; killed when trying to drive his father's chariot and came too close to earth
noun
Type genus of the Phaethontidae [syn: Phaethon, genus Phaethon]

Definition of 'Phaethon'

From: GCIDE
  • Phaethon \Pha"["e]*thon\ (f[=a]"[-e]*th[o^]n), prop. n. [L., Pha["e]thon (in sense 1), fr. Gr. Fae`qwn, fr. fae`qein, fa`ein, to shine. See Phantom.]
  • 1. (Class. Myth.) The son of Helios (Ph[oe]bus), that is, the son of light, or of the sun. He is fabled to have obtained permission to drive the chariot of the sun, in doing which his want of skill would have set the world on fire, had he not been struck with a thunderbolt by Jupiter, and hurled headlong into the river Po. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Zool.) A genus of oceanic birds including the tropic birds. [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'Phaethon'