Definitions

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

  • noun The father of Odysseus.

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

  • proper noun Greek mythology the father of Odysseus

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

  • noun (Greek mythology) the father of Odysseus

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek Λαέρτης (Laertēs).

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Examples

  • Now as the two bands came close to each other—Odysseus with Telemachus and Laertes; with the swineherd and the cattle-herd; with Dolius, Laertes’ servant, and with the six sons of Dolius—and Eupeithes with his friends—a great figure came between.

    Part II. Chapter XVII 1918

  • Upon this match great wagers were laid by the courtiers, as both Hamlet and Laertes were known to excel at this sword play; and Hamlet taking up the foils chose one, not at all suspecting the treachery of Laertes, or being careful to examine Laertes’ weapon, who, instead of a foil or blunted sword, which the laws of fencing require, made use of one with a point, and poisoned.

    Hamlet, Prince of Denmark 1878

  • Laertes is not really publishing much fiction these days, though, and so they've not been reprinting the backlist much either and their licenses for my work have been expiring.

    Breakfast in Bed desayunoencama 2007

  • This latter is, possibly, lawagetas in Mycenaean Greek, and some scholars think that the name Laertes, Odysseus’s father, is just a contraction of that word.

    The Trojan War Barry Strauss 2006

  • This latter is, possibly, lawagetas in Mycenaean Greek, and some scholars think that the name Laertes, Odysseus’s father, is just a contraction of that word.

    The Trojan War Barry Strauss 2006

  • This person, whom, for the present, we shall call Laertes, offered to take Wilhelm over and introduce him.

    Chapter IV. Book II 1917

  • But by procrastinating, his tragic flaw, everyone whom he ridicules and targets also dies along the way, such as Laertes, Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern.

    LearnHub Activities 2009

  • But by procrastinating, his tragic flaw, everyone whom he ridicules and targets also dies along the way, such as Laertes, Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern.

    LearnHub Activities 2008

  • Will it be Hamlet or Laertes who is the victor in the Wittenberg versus Paris college tennis tournament?

    Wittenberg – review 2011

  • For instance, in the Odyssey, while Odysseus is away, Penelope keeps weaving and undoing and reweaving a funeral shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes; she is doing this to postpone a task she does not want, that of giving up on Odysseus and choosing from among her pesky suitors.

    Ingrid Hill - An interview with author 2010

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