Niobe

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈnʌɪəbi/
• US IPA: /naɪˈoÊŠbi/

Origin

Ancient Greek Νιόβη.

Full definition of Niobe

Proper noun

1. (Greek Mythology) A daughter of Tantalus, said to have turned into stone while weeping for her children.

Noun

1. A crying woman; a woman who is bereaved or inconsolable. from 16th c.
• 1609, William Shakespeare, Troilus & Cressida, V.11:There is a word will Priam turne to stone, Make wells and Niobe’s of the maides and wiues.
• 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa:But when a man has been ranging, like the painful bee, from flower to flower, perhaps for a month together, and the thoughts of home and wife begin to have their charms with him, to be received by a Niobe, who, like a wounded vine, weeps her vitals away, while she but involuntarily curls about him; how shall I be able to bear that?