Dictionary Definition
mephitic adj : of noxious stench from atmospheric
pollution [syn: miasmic]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Quotations
- 1996, Janette
Turner Hospital, Oyster, Virago Press, paperback edition, page
3
- More than that, perhaps the worst thing, was a sort of mephitic fog, moistureless and invisible, that came and went like an exhalation of the arid earth itself.
Derived terms
Extensive Definition
Avernus was an ancient name for a crater near
Cumae (Cuma),
Italy in the
Region of Campania north of
Naples.
Within the crater is Lake Avernus
(Lago d'Averno). It was believed
to be the entrance to the underworld, and is
portrayed as such in the Aeneid of Virgil. In later
times, the word was simply an alternate name for the underworld. On the
shores of the Lake is the grotto of the Cumaean
Sybil and the entrance to a long tunnel (Grotta di
Cocceio, ca. 800 meters) leading toward Cumae, where her
sanctuary was located. There are also the remains of temples to
Apollo and
Jupiter.
During the
civil war between Octavian and
Antony,
Agrippa
tried to turn the lake into a military port, the Portus
Julius. A waterway was dug from Lake
Lucrino to Avernus to this end. The Port's remains may still be
seen under the Lake's surface.
The term Avernus (plural Averni) was also used by
ancient naturalists for certain lakes, grottos, and other places
which infect the air with poisonous steams or vapors. They were
also called mephites. They were said to be frequent in Hungary on account
of the abundance of mines therein. The Grotto dei
Cani in Italy was a famous example. The most celebrated of
these, however, is Lake
Avernus. The fumes it emitted were represented by the ancients
as of so malignant a nature, that birds could not fly over it, but
fell down dead. In addition, Mephitis was the Roman goddess of
noxious vapors, who protects against malaria. The adjective
"mephitic" means "foul-smelling" or "malodorous".
mephitic in Catalan: Avern
mephitic in Spanish: Averno
mephitic in Georgian: ავერნუსი