Meanings
- uncountableA plant used in Ancient Greece in divinatory rituals regarding matters of love or sex.
Sophronia sat, lost. In deep muse. Round her ebony chair Lay the cracked leaves of the telephilon.
1872, Emily E. Ford, My Recreations: Verses, New York: Hurd and Houghton, page 1501 more example
Theocritus, an ancient Greek poet, says that the leaf of a flower called telephion was used by the boys of Crotona as an amatory oracle. [...] Telephilon has been identified as a kind of pepper tree, or, according to some, as the poppy.
1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 231
Origin
- Ancient Greekτηλέφιλον
- Englishtelephilon
Borrowed from Ancient Greek τηλέφιλον (tēléphilon); ? from a Pre-Greek word, possibly altered to reflect τῆλε (têle, “far, afar”) + φίλον (phílon, “beloved, love”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
telephilon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/telephilon
“telephilon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/telephilon. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “telephilon,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/telephilon.
Source: telephilon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.