Meanings
adjective
- Greekhuman sciencesRelating to the goddess Kourotrophos.
- Ancient GreeceRelating to the rearing of youths, especially in the context of Ancient Greece.
Virgin goddesses had no interest in exerting their powers in this way. Instead, the Greeks made them interact with mortal men in a kourotrophic capacity: rather than functioning as sexual partners, they became nurturing guardians of young men approaching adulthood or protectors of male heroes.
2007, Bonnie MacLachlan, Virginity Revisited: Configurations of the Unpossessed Body, page 15
Origin
Cite this entry
APA
kourotrophic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kourotrophic
MLA
“kourotrophic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kourotrophic. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kourotrophic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kourotrophic.
Source: kourotrophic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.