Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The daughter of Ceres who became the goddess of the underworld when Pluto carried her away and made her his wife.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A genus of gastropods, typical of the family Proserpinidæ.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun Roman mythology The ancient Roman goddess of springtime, queen of the underworld, her Greek equivalent is Persephone.
  • proper noun astronomy 26 Proserpina, the asteroid.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun goddess of the underworld; counterpart of Greek Persephone

Etymologies

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Examples

  • "Proserpina" -- so named from the Flora of the Greeks, the daughter of

    The Life of John Ruskin 1893

  • "Proserpina," etc. -- as well as his regular work at "Fors," and the St. George's Company was then taking definite form; -- and all the while the lady of his love was dying under the most tragic circumstances, and he forbidden to approach her.

    The Life of John Ruskin 1893

  • Thistle as the emblem of Scotland in Ruskin's "Proserpina," pp. 135-139.

    The plant-lore & garden-craft of Shakespeare Henry Nicholson Ellacombe 1868

  • 'Proserpina' than is becoming, because I know not how far I may be permitted to carry on that which was begun in 'Fors.'

    Proserpina, Volume 2 Studies Of Wayside Flowers John Ruskin 1859

  • The object of 'Proserpina' is to make him happily cognizant of the common aspect of Greek and English flowers; under the term

    Proserpina, Volume 2 Studies Of Wayside Flowers John Ruskin 1859

  • 'Proserpina' to friends who know more of Botany than I, or have kindness enough to ascertain debateable things for me, I mean in future to do so, -- using the letter A to signify Amicus, generally; with acknowledgment by name, when it is permitted, of especial help or correction.

    Proserpina, Volume 2 Studies Of Wayside Flowers John Ruskin 1859

  • In the meantime, everything being again thrown out of gear by the aforesaid illness, I must let this piece of 'Proserpina' break off, as most of my work does -- and as perhaps all of it may soon do -- leaving only suggestion for the happier research of the students who trust me thus far.

    Proserpina, Volume 2 Studies Of Wayside Flowers John Ruskin 1859

  • 'For the present,' I say all this work in 'Proserpina' being merely tentative, much to be modified by future students, and therefore quite different from that of 'Deucalion,' which is authoritative as far as it reaches, and will stand out like a quartz dyke, as the sandy speculations of modern gossiping geologists get washed away.

    Proserpina, Volume 2 Studies Of Wayside Flowers John Ruskin 1859

  • In the following number of 'Proserpina' I have been tempted to follow, with more minute notice than usual, the 'conditions of adversity' which, as they fret the thistle tribe into jagged malice, have humbled the beauty of the great domestic group of the Vestals into confused likenesses of the

    Proserpina, Volume 2 Studies Of Wayside Flowers John Ruskin 1859

  • The truth of all popular traditions as to the healing power of herbs will be tried impartially as soon as men again desire to lead healthy lives; but I shall not in 'Proserpina' retain any of the names of their gathered and dead or distilled substance, but name them always from the characters of their life.

    Proserpina, Volume 2 Studies Of Wayside Flowers John Ruskin 1859

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