Meanings
comparative more Herculæan · superlative most Herculæan
- archaicArchaic spelling of Herculean.
Obedient to your well urged petition, I have gone into the Herculæan task of clearing — not the Augæan stables, but what is worse, — my baskets of papers.
1879, Susan Warner, My Desire, R. Carter and Brothers, page 4293 more examples
In the mouth and small eyes may be seen the unspeakable studies of a long life, to which the painter has drawn attention by the inscription upon the gilt edges of a book bound in red, and elegantly decorated, on which Erasmus is leaning, and which runs thus : — ΗΡΑΚΛΕΟΙ ΠΟΝΟΙ Erasmi Rodero. ie the Herculæan labours of Erasmus of Rotterdam.
1857, Dr. Gustav Friedrich Waagen, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, John Murray, page 356The Sibylla Persica, supposed to be the oldest of the sisterhood, holds the book close to her eyes, as if from dimness of sight, which fact, contradicted as it is by a frame of obviously Herculæan strength, gives a mysterious intentness to the action.
1865, Lady Elizabeth Rigby Eastlake, The History of Our Lord as Exemplified in Works of Art, 2nd edition, volume 1, page 253The Finance Committee, which began its Herculæan labours on the Nawrús or New Year’s Day (March 21) of 1907, and presented its Budget to the Majlis in the following October, comprised 12 members, 5 from Ázarbáyján, 2 from Ṭihrán, 2 from Fárs, and one each from Kirmán, Khurásán and Hamadán.
1910, Edward Granville Browne, The Persian Revolution of 1905–1909, page 239
Origin
Comparable with Augæan or Europæan.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Herculæan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hercul%C3%A6an
“Herculæan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hercul%C3%A6an. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Herculæan,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hercul%C3%A6an.
Source: Herculæan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.