Adjacent Words

Phoebe definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one [syn: five, 5, V, cinque, quint, quintet, fivesome, quintuplet, pentad, fin, Phoebe, Little Phoebe]
2: (Greek mythology) a Titaness who became identified with Artemis as goddess of the Moon
3: small dun-colored North American flycatcher [syn: phoebe, phoebe bird, Sayornis phoebe]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: imitative Date: 1700 any of a genus (Sayornis) of the tyrant flycatcher family; especially a flycatcher (S. phoebe) of the eastern United States that has a slight crest and is plain grayish brown above and yellowish white below

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Latin, from Greek Phoib?, from phoib?, feminine of phoibos Date: 1567 Artemis

Britannica Concise

Any of three species (family Tyrannidae, suborder Tyranni) of suboscine passerines with a habit of twitching their tail when perching. The eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) of N. America is 7.5 in. (18 cm) long, plain brownish gray above, and paler below. Its call is a brisk "fee-bee" uttered over and over. It makes a mossy nest, strengthened with mud, on a ledge, often under a bridge. Say's phoebe (S. saya), a slightly larger bird with buff-hued underparts, occurs in open country in W N. America. The black phoebe (S. nigricans), occurring from the SW U.S. to Argentina, is dark above with a white belly.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. any American flycatcher of the genus Sayornis. Etymology: imit.: infl. by the name

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Phoebe Ph[oe]"be, n. (Zo["o]l.) The pewee, or pewit.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pewee Pe"wee, n. [So called from its note.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) A common American tyrant flycatcher (Sayornis ph[oe]be, or S. fuscus). Called also pewit, and ph[oe]be. 2. The woodcock. [Local, U.S.] Wood pewee (Zo["o]l.), a bird (Contopus virens) similar to the pewee (See Pewee, 1), but of smaller size.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fe'-be (Phoibe; the King James Version Phebe): Described by Paul as (1) "our sister," (2) "who is a servant of the church that is at Cenchrea," (3) "a helper of many, and of mine own self" (Ro 16:1,2).

(1) "Our (Christian) sister": Paul calls the believing husband and wife "the brother or the sister" (1Co 7:15), and also asks, "Have we no right to lead about a wife that is a sister?" (1Co 9:5 margin). The church was a family.

(2) The Greek word translated "servant" is diakonos. "Servant" is vague, and "deaconess" is too technical. In the later church there was an order of deaconesses for special work among women, owing to the peculiar circumstances of oriental life, but we have no reason to believe there was such an order at this early period. If Phoebe had voluntarily devoted herself "to minister unto the saints" by means of charity and hospitality, she would be called diakonos.

(3) The Greek word prostatis translated "helper" is better "patroness." The masculine is "the title of a citizen in Athens who took charge of the interests of clients and persons without civic rights" (Denney). Many of the early Christian communities had the appearance of clients under a patron, and probably the community of Cenchrea met in the house of Phoebe. She also devoted her influence and means to the assistance of "brethren" landing at that port. Paul was among those whom she benefited. Gifford thinks some special occasion is meant, and that Paul refers to this in Ac 18:18. The vow "seems to point to a deliverance from danger or sickness" in which Phoebe may have attended on him.

It is generally assumed that this letter was taken to Rome by Phoebe, these verses introducing her to the Christian community. In commending her, Paul asks that the Roman Christians "receive her in the Lord," i.e. give her a Christian welcome, and that they "assist her in whatsoever matter she may have need" of them (Ro 16:1,2).

S. F. Hunter

Moby Thesaurus

Artemis, Ashtoreth, Astarte, Cynthia, Diana, Hecate, Hekate, Little Phoebe, Luna, Pentateuch, Selene, V, cinque, fin, five, five bucks, five dollars, fiver, fivesome, mullet, pentachord, pentad, pentagon, pentagram, pentahedron, pentameter, pentapody, pentarchy, pentastich, pentathlon, quincunx, quint, quintet, quintuplet