Library / English Dictionary

ANTIQUITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An artifact surviving from the past

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("antiquity" is a kind of...):

artefact; artifact (a man-made object taken as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "antiquity"):

antique (any piece of furniture or decorative object or the like produced in a former period and valuable because of its beauty or rarity)

relic (an antiquity that has survived from the distant past)

Roman building (a building constructed by the ancient Romans)

stela; stele (an ancient upright stone slab bearing markings)

Derivation:

antique (made in or typical of earlier times and valued for its age)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Extreme oldness

Synonyms:

ancientness; antiquity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("antiquity" is a kind of...):

oldness (the quality of being old; the opposite of newness)

Derivation:

antique (belonging to or lasting from times long ago)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The historic period preceding the Middle Ages in Europe

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("antiquity" is a kind of...):

age; historic period (an era of history having some distinctive feature)

Domain member category:

Chinese deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Chinese)

Greek deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Greeks)

Roman deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Romans)

Bacchus ((classical mythology) god of wine; equivalent of Dionysus)

Norse deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Norsemen)

Phrygian deity (deity of the ancient Phrygians of west central Asia Minor)

augur; auspex ((ancient Rome) a religious official who interpreted omens to guide public policy)

centurion ((ancient Rome) the leader of 100 soldiers)

choragus ((ancient Greece) leader of a group or festival; leader of a chorus)

gladiator ((ancient Rome) a professional combatant or a captive who entertained the public by engaging in mortal combat)

pontifex (a member of the highest council of priests in ancient Rome)

procurator ((ancient Rome) someone employed by the Roman Emperor to manage finance and taxes)

sibyl ((ancient Rome) a woman who was regarded as an oracle or prophet)

tribune ((ancient Rome) an official elected by the plebeians to protect their interests)

Roman; Romanic (of or relating to or derived from Rome (especially ancient Rome))

lustrum (a ceremonial purification of the Roman population every five years following the census)

catacomb (an underground tunnel with recesses where bodies were buried (as in ancient Rome))

circus ((antiquity) an open-air stadium for chariot races and gladiatorial games)

galley ((classical antiquity) a crescent-shaped seagoing vessel propelled by oars)

bay wreath; laurel; laurel wreath ((antiquity) a wreath of laurel foliage worn on the head as an emblem of victory)

pantheon ((antiquity) a temple to all the gods)

toga virilis ((ancient Rome) a toga worn by a youth as a symbol of manhood and citizenship)

humor; humour ((Middle Ages) one of the four fluids in the body whose balance was believed to determine your emotional and physical state)

dithyramb ((ancient Greece) a passionate hymn (usually in honor of Dionysus))

paean; pean ((ancient Greece) a hymn of praise (especially one sung in ancient Greece to invoke or thank a deity))

torch race ((ancient Greece) in which a torch is passed from one runner to the next)

Ana (mother of the ancient Irish gods; sometimes identified with Danu)

Lug; Lugh (ancient Celtic god)

Egyptian deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Egyptians)

Ra; Re (ancient Egyptian sun god with the head of a hawk; a universal creator; he merged with the god Amen as Amen-Ra to become the king of the gods)

Semitic deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Semites)

Persian deity (a deity worshiped by the ancient Persians)

Holonyms ("antiquity" is a part of...):

history (the aggregate of past events)

Derivation:

antique (belonging to or lasting from times long ago)

Credits

 Context examples: 

With the walls of the kitchen ended all the antiquity of the abbey; the fourth side of the quadrangle having, on account of its decaying state, been removed by the general's father, and the present erected in its place.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

It is to be observed, that these ambassadors spoke to me, by an interpreter, the languages of both empires differing as much from each other as any two in Europe, and each nation priding itself upon the antiquity, beauty, and energy of their own tongue, with an avowed contempt for that of their neighbour; yet our emperor, standing upon the advantage he had got by the seizure of their fleet, obliged them to deliver their credentials, and make their speech, in the Lilliputian tongue.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I like Thornfield, its antiquity, its retirement, its old crow-trees and thorn-trees, its grey facade, and lines of dark windows reflecting that metal welkin: and yet how long have I abhorred the very thought of it, shunned it like a great plague-house?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)