pygmalion

P3Y4G2M3A1L1I1O1N1
/pɪɡˈmeɪliən/

noun

One who acts as the legendary Greek sculptor Pygmalion (who was granted the wish of having life given to a sculpture of his which he fell deeply in love with).

OriginAncient Greek Πυγμαλίων ← Phoenician 𐤐𐤏𐤌𐤉𐤕𐤍 →
UncommonScrabble 17
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Meanings

pygmalion1

nounpygmalion (plural pygmalions)

plural pygmalions

  1. One who acts as the legendary Greek sculptor Pygmalion (who was granted the wish of having life given to a sculpture of his which he fell deeply in love with).

Pygmalion2

proper noun
  1. Greekhuman sciencesA legendary sculptor who was granted the wish of having life given to a sculpture of his which he fell deeply in love with.

    It dawned on me that they [Anthropic] were under a kind of enchantment. Like Pygmalion, they had fallen in love with their own creation.

    2026 July 25, Carmody Grey, “AI’s quest for morality”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1
nounPygmalion (plural Pygmalions)

plural Pygmalions

  1. alternativeAlternative form of pygmalion (“one who acts in a way reminiscent of the sculptor”).

Origin

pygmalion · noun

  1. Phoenician𐤉𐤕𐤍“to give”
  2. Phoenician𐤐𐤌𐤉“Pumay”
  3. Phoenician𐤐𐤌𐤉𐤉𐤕𐤍“Pumay has given”
  4. Phoenician𐤐𐤏𐤌𐤉𐤕𐤍
  5. Ancient GreekΠυγμαλίων
  6. Englishpygmalion

From Pygmalion, from Ancient Greek Πυγμαλίων (Pugmalíōn), from Phoenician 𐤐𐤏𐤌𐤉𐤕𐤍 (pʿmytn /⁠puġ‘mayaton⁠/), from Phoenician 𐤐𐤌𐤉𐤉𐤕𐤍 (pmyytn /⁠pumayyaton⁠/, “Pumay has given”), from Phoenician 𐤐𐤌𐤉 (pmy, “Pumay”) + Phoenician 𐤉𐤕𐤍 (ytn /⁠yaton⁠/, “to give”).

More words from Ancient Greek, Phoenician

Full word history & related roots →

Pygmalion · proper noun, noun

  1. Phoenician𐤉𐤕𐤍“to give”
  2. Phoenician𐤐𐤌𐤉“Pumay”
  3. Phoenician𐤐𐤌𐤉𐤉𐤕𐤍“Pumay has given”
  4. Phoenician𐤐𐤏𐤌𐤉𐤕𐤍
  5. Ancient GreekΠυγμαλίων
  6. EnglishPygmalion

From Ancient Greek Πυγμαλίων (Pugmalíōn), from Phoenician 𐤐𐤏𐤌𐤉𐤕𐤍 (pʿmytn /⁠puġ‘mayaton⁠/), from Phoenician 𐤐𐤌𐤉𐤉𐤕𐤍 (pmyytn /⁠pumayyaton⁠/, “Pumay has given”), from Phoenician 𐤐𐤌𐤉 (pmy, “Pumay”) + Phoenician 𐤉𐤕𐤍 (ytn /⁠yaton⁠/, “to give”).

More words from Ancient Greek, Phoenician

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

maypoling
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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