Definitions

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

  • noun A serpent, dragon or worm who eats its own tail, a representation of the continuous cycle of life and death.
  • noun A picture or symbol representing this.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek οὐροβόρος (ouroboros, "tail-eating").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word ouroboros.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Click here: ouroboros.

    November 21, 2007

  • A couple years ago I was ONE letter away from making this word in Scrabble.

    November 22, 2007

  • "The Ouroboros, also spelled Ourorboros, Oroborus, Uroboros or Uroborus is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon swallowing its own tail and forming a circle. It has been used to represent many things over the ages, but it most generally symbolizes ideas of cyclicality, unity, or infinity. The ouroboros has been important in religious and mythological symbolism, but has also been frequently used in alchemical illustrations. More recently, it has been interpreted by psychologists, such as Carl Jung, as having an archetypical significance to the human psyche."

    _Wikipedia

    January 25, 2008

  • always liked this symbol, this image. was it used in conan the barbarian?--king thalsadoom's 'logo'

    I think Schwarznegger spoke three or four words in that film.

    April 22, 2009