Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Vesta"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Vesta \Ves"ta\, n. [L. Vesta, akin to Gr. ? Vesta, ? the hearth
of the house, and perhaps to Skr. ush to burn (see East), or
perhaps to Skr. vas to dwell, and E. was.]
1. (Rom. Myth.) One of the great divinities of the ancient
Romans, identical with the Greek Hestia. She was a virgin,
and the goddess of the hearth; hence, also, of the fire on
it, and the family round it.
2. (Astron.) An asteroid, or minor planet, discovered by
Olbers in 1807.
3. A wax friction match. --Simmonds.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
Vesta
n 1: (Roman mythology) goddess of the hearth and its fire whose
flame was tended by vestal virgins; counterpart of Greek
Hestia [syn: {Vesta}]
2: the brightest asteroid but the fourth to be discovered [syn:
{Vesta}]
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