kourai

K5O1U1R1A1I1

noun

animate statues of beautiful maidens, forged out of gold by the divine smith Hephaistos, who attended the Olympian gods

OriginAncient Greek κοῦραι →
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Meanings

nounkourai pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlyanimate statues of beautiful maidens, forged out of gold by the divine smith Hephaistos, who attended the Olympian gods

    On view from the sixth century B.C. are two small Attic representations of kourai, dressed statues of maidens, said to represent the Athenian aristocracy in rites celebrating the goddess Athena.

    2007 January 5, The New York Times, “Museum and Gallery Listings”, in New York Times

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekκοῦραι
  2. Englishkourai

Assumably from Ancient Greek κοῦραι (koûrai), if so, then it would be a doublet of korai?

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Akurio
Cite this entry
APA

kourai. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kourai

MLA

“kourai.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kourai. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kourai,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kourai.

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