Pegasus

Meanings

Proper Noun

• A winged horse fabled to have sprung from the blood of Medusa when she was slain. He is noted for causing, with a blow of his hoof, Hippocrene, the inspiring fountain of the Muses, to spring from Mount Helicon. Bellerophon tamed and rode upon Pegasus when he defeated the Chimaera.
• A constellation of the northern sky, near the vernal equinox point, representing the winged horse. Its three brightest stars, with the brightest star of Andromeda, form the asterism of the Great Square of Pegasus.

Noun

• A coin of ancient Corinth, with a winged horse depicted on the obverse.

Origin

• From Latin, from Ancient Greek Πήγασος, traditionally associated with πηγή, especially used to denote springs of Ocean, where Perseus killed Medusa, from whose blood Pegasus sprang. Some have dismissed this as folk etymology and suggest a pre-Greek origin because of the -ασος suffix.