Eris

E1R1I1S1
/ˈɪəɹɪs//ˈɛɹɪs/

proper noun

The goddess of discord and strife, whose apple of discord sparked events that eventually led to the Trojan War; equated by Homer with Enyo (goddess of violent war) and identified with the Roman goddess Discordia;

Similar
136199 Eris2003 UB313136199 Eris (2003 UB313)Xena⯰⯱Discordia
UncommonScrabble 4

Meanings

proper noun
  1. Greekhuman sciencesThe goddess of discord and strife, whose apple of discord sparked events that eventually led to the Trojan War; equated by Homer with Enyo (goddess of violent war) and identified with the Roman goddess Discordia;

    And yet Erisianism should not be treated frivolously. Greg Hill told me his experiences with Eris had been quite profound. Although it started as an atheistic joke, his perceptions began to change.

    2006, Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-worshippers, and Other Pagans in America, Penguin, page 351
    3 more examples

    According to Homer, the Trojan war is, above all, an affair of the gods. It is about Eris, a sister of the god of war Ares, and about Eros, not directly named by Homer, but who in the figure of Aphrodite, the god of love, plays a central role on the side of the Trojans. Eris is the one who divides gods, mortals, and things from each other; Eros is the one who brings them together.

    1992, Samuel Ijsseling, “Eros and Eris: The Trojan War and Heidegger on the Essence of Truth”, in Paul van Tongeren, Paul Sars, Chris Bremmers, Koen Boey, editors, Eros and Eris: Contributions to a Hermeneutical Phenomenology Liber Amicorum for Adriaan Peperzak, Kluwer Academic, page 2

    1993, Herman Parret, The Aesthetics of Communication: Pragmatics and Beyond, Springer, Softcover reprint, page 18, Eris, "the Strife with the violent heart", one reads in Hesiod's Theogony, is a child of the Night, and "Hateful Struggle gave birth to painful Distress and Distraction and Famine and tearful Sorrow; also Wars and Battles and Murders and Slaughters; also Feuds and Lying Words and Angry Words".

    According to Newport, no specific bowling alley can claim to be the site of the birth of the Discordian movement. It evolved at several different bowling alleys. This revelation came as a devastating disappointment to your humble author, who—in the course of writing this book—had planned a grand religious pilgrimage to this envisioned holy site, where I would snap sacred photos of "The Brunswick Shrine," and perhaps even fall to my knees before this fabled Mecca of Discordianism, bowing to the Goddess Eris.

    2003, Adam Gorightly, The Prankster and the Conspiracy: The Story of Kerry Thornley and How He Met Oswald and Inspired the Counterculture, Paraview Press, page 58
  2. The goddess of discord and strife, whose apple of discord sparked events that eventually led to the Trojan War; equated by Homer with Enyo (goddess of violent war) and identified with the Roman goddess Discordia; (religion, Discordianism) the same figure as principal deity of Discordianism, regarded as the goddess of disorder.
    1. Greekhuman sciencesthe same figure as principal deity of Discordianism, regarded as the goddess of disorder.
  3. astronomyThe celestial body 136199 Eris, the most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the largest known object in the scattered disk; formerly nicknamed Xena.
    1 more example

    Today, Xena is no longer Xena but has been officially renamed Eris, after the Greek goddess of strife and discord—which hints at the climate in planetary science at the time. Its moon has a similarly appropriate name, Dysnomia (lawlessness) in Greek mythology, the daughter of Eris. Observations of Eris and Dysnomia have confirmed that Eris is 27 per cent more massive than Pluto, though of a similar diameter.

    2013, Fred Watson, Star-Craving Mad: Tales from a Travelling Astronomer, Allen & Unwin, page 35

    Synonyms: 136199 Eris, 2003 UB313, 136199 Eris (2003 UB313), Xena, ⯰, ⯱

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounThe celestial body 136199 Eris, the most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the largest known object in the scattered disk; formerly nicknamed Xena.

Similar
136199 Eris2003 UB313136199 Eris (2003 UB313)Xena⯰⯱

goddess

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Also see

Origin

  1. Ancient GreekἜρις
  2. EnglishEris

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἔρις (Éris), from ἔρις (éris, “strife”). See also Eris (mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia and Eris (dwarf planet) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek Ἔρις
  • Ἔρις (Éris)Greek goddess of discord
Arabic إِرِيس
  • إِرِيس (ʔirīs)dwarf planet
Bengali এরিস
  • এরিস (eriś)dwarf planet
Chinese Cantonese 鬩神星 /阋神星, 艾莉絲 /艾莉丝
  • 鬩神星 /阋神星 (hik¹ san⁴ sing¹, jik¹ san⁴ sing¹)dwarf planet
  • 艾莉絲 /艾莉丝 (ngaai⁶ lei⁶ si¹)Greek goddess of discord
Chinese Mandarin 鬩神星 /阋神星, 厄里斯
  • 鬩神星 /阋神星 (Xìshénxīng)dwarf planet
  • 厄里斯 (Èlǐsī)Greek goddess of discord
  • 厄莉絲 /厄莉丝 (Èlìsī)Greek goddess of discord
Czech Eris, Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
  • ErisGreek goddess of discord
Dutch Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
Esperanto Eriso, Eriso
  • Erisodwarf planet
  • ErisoGreek goddess of discord
Finnish Eris, Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
  • ErisGreek goddess of discord
French Éris, Éris
  • Érisdwarf planet
  • ÉrisGreek goddess of discord
German Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
Greek Έρις, Έρις
  • Έρις (Éris)dwarf planet
  • Έρις (Éris)Greek goddess of discord
Hawaiian ʻElika
  • ʻElikadwarf planet
Hebrew אריס
  • אריס (eris)dwarf planet
Hindi ऍरिस
  • ऍरिस (ĕris)dwarf planet
Hungarian Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
Indonesian Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
Irish Earas, Earas
  • Earasdwarf planet
  • EarasGreek goddess of discord
Italian Eris, Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
  • ErisGreek goddess of discord
  • ErideGreek goddess of discord
Japanese エリス
  • エリス (Erisu)dwarf planet
Korean 에리스
  • 에리스 (Eriseu)dwarf planet
Latin Discordia, Discordia
  • Discordiadwarf planet
  • DiscordiaGreek goddess of discord
Latvian Erīda
  • Erīdadwarf planet
Lithuanian Erida
  • Eridadwarf planet
Malay Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
Persian اریس
  • اریس (aris)dwarf planet
Polish Eris, Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
  • ErisGreek goddess of discord
  • ErydaGreek goddess of discord
Portuguese Éris, Éris
  • Érisdwarf planet
  • ÉrisGreek goddess of discord
Romanian Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
Russian Эри́да, Эри́да
  • Эри́да (Erída)dwarf planet
  • Эри́да (Erída)Greek goddess of discord
Slovak Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
Spanish Eris, Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
  • ErisGreek goddess of discord
  • ÉridaGreek goddess of discord
  • ÉrideGreek goddess of discord
Swahili Erisi
  • Erisidwarf planet
Tagalog Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
Tamil ஏரிசு
  • ஏரிசு (ēricu)dwarf planet
Thai อีริส
  • อีริส (eerít)dwarf planet
Turkish Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet
Urdu ایرس
  • ایرس (iress)dwarf planet
Vietnamese Eris
  • Erisdwarf planet

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

Eris. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Eris

MLA

“Eris.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Eris. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Eris,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Eris.

Source: Eris on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.