hippomanes

H4I1P3P3O1M3A1N1E1S1

noun

An ancient love philter obtained from a mare or foal in heat.

OriginLatin hippomanes ← Ancient Greek ἱππομᾰνής →
Scrabble 19
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Meanings

nounhippomanes (uncountable)
  1. uncountableAn ancient love philter obtained from a mare or foal in heat.

    Let Circe and Medea bring the lees / Of some foul cup! Let Thessaly prepare / Its direst poison! Bring hippomanes, / Fierce philtre from the frantic, brooding mare!

    1908, Theodore Chickering Williams, transl., “On His Lady's Avarice”, in The Elegies of Tibullus, translation of original by Tibullus
  2. uncountableA membrane on the forehead of a foal, used in love potions.

    Hippomanes was used in ancient Roman potions as an aphrodisiac.

    1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 120

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekἱππομᾰνής
  2. Latinhippomanes
  3. Englishhippomanes

From Latin hippomanes, from Ancient Greek ἱππομᾰνής (hippomănḗs); see hippo- and the related suffix -mania.

More words from Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Hoppeanism
Cite this entry
APA

hippomanes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hippomanes

MLA

“hippomanes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hippomanes. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hippomanes,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hippomanes.

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