| Part of Speech | Definition | |
| Adjective | 1. Extremely filthy from long neglect.[Wordnet]
2. Extremely dirty and corrupt; "every government ought to attend to cleaning its own Augean stables".[Wordnet] 3. Of or pertaining to Augeus, king of Elis, whose stable contained 3000 oxen, and had not been cleaned for 30 years. Hercules cleansed it in a single day.[Websters] 4. Hence: Exceedingly filthy or corrupt.[Websters] 5. Being corrupt. [Eve - graph theoretic] 6. Being squalid or sordid. [Eve - graph theoretic] 7. Infrequently used base adjective of the adverb augeanly.[Eve - graph theoretic] | |
| Adverb Form (augeanly) | 1. Virtually never used adverbial inflection of the rarely used adjective augean.[Eve - graph theoretic] | |
Sources: compiled from various sources, (under license) copyright 2008. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, WordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. | Top | |
Date "Augean" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1642. (references) |
Specialty Definition: Augean
| Domain | Definition | ||
| Noah Webster | [Adjective] The Augean stable, in Grecian mythology, is represented as belonging to Augeas or Augias, one of the Argonauts, and afterwards king of Elis. This prince kept a great number of oxen, in a stable which was never cleansed, until Hercules undertook the task; a task which it seemed impracticable to execute. Hence the Augean stable came to represent what is deemed impracticable, or a place which has not, for a long time been cleansed.. Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary. | ||
| Wiktionary | 1: [Adjective] Hence, very filthy. (references) | 2: [Adjective] Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Augeas. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
Common Expressions: Augean
| Expressions | Definition | ||
| Augean stable | (Fig.), an accumulation of corruption or filth almost beyond the power of man to remedy. Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. | ||
| Augean Stable | The Augean Stable was one of the Twelve Labours of Hercules. Hercules's task was to clean out a stable that had been soiled by years of neglect. Hercules succeeded by using a boulder to gouge out a trench, diverting a river through the stable. (references) | ||
| Augean stables | (Greek mythology) the extremely dirty stables that were finally cleaned by Hercules who diverted two rivers through them. Source: Wordnet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
Specialty Expressions: Augean
| Expressions | Domain | Definition | |
| Augean Stables | Literature | 1: The stables of Augeas, King of Elis, in Greece. In these stables he had kept 3,000 oxen, and the stalls had not been cleansed for thirty years. When Hercules was appointed to cleanse these stables, he caused two rivers to run through them. 2: To cleanse the Augean stables. To clear away an accumulated mass of corruption, moral, religious, physical, or legal. To reform wrongs almost past the power of man to tackle. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
