HERCULES

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Hercules mean? 

• HERCULES (noun)
  The noun HERCULES has 2 senses:

1. (classical mythology) a hero noted for his strength; performed 12 immense labors to gain immortality

2. a large constellation in the northern hemisphere between Lyra and Corona Borealis

  Familiarity information: HERCULES used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HERCULES (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(classical mythology) a hero noted for his strength; performed 12 immense labors to gain immortality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Alcides; Heracles; Herakles; Hercules

Instance hypernyms:

mythical being (an imaginary being of myth or fable)

Domain category:

classical mythology (the system of mythology of the Greeks and Romans together; much of Roman mythology (especially the gods) was borrowed from the Greeks)

Derivation:

herculean (extremely difficult; requiring the strength of a Hercules)

herculean (displaying superhuman strength or power)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A large constellation in the northern hemisphere between Lyra and Corona Borealis

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Instance hypernyms:

constellation (a configuration of stars as seen from the earth)

 Context examples 

This was a tall young man, surprisingly handsome, with a dark, fierce face, and the limbs and chest of a Hercules.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This unusual event occurred inside or near a star-forming galaxy known as CGCG 137-068, located about 200 million light-years away in the constellation Hercules.

(Mysterious Blast Studied with NASA Telescopes, NASA)

A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I was thinking, sir (you will excuse the idea; it was involuntary), I was thinking of Hercules and Samson with their charmers—You were, you little elfish—Hush, sir!

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The first is a gigantic negro named Zambo, who is a black Hercules, as willing as any horse, and about as intelligent.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The catalogue also includes such clusters as the Fornax cluster, the Hercules cluster, and Pandora’s cluster.

(ALMA and MUSE Detect Galactic Fountain, ESO)

He has promised to be very good today, and he can be perfectly elegant if he likes, returned Amy, and gliding away to warn Hercules to beware of the dragon, which warning caused him to haunt the old lady with a devotion that nearly distracted her.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Even at that moment of tension I found time for amazement at the discovery that he was quite a short man, his head not higher than my shoulder—a stunted Hercules whose tremendous vitality had all run to depth, breadth, and brain.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)