Hypertext Webster Gateway: "hero"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hero \He"ro\, n.; pl. {Heroes}. [F. h['e]ros, L. heros, Gr. ?.]
1. (Myth.) An illustrious man, supposed to be exalted, after
death, to a place among the gods; a demigod, as Hercules.
2. A man of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger, or
fortitude in suffering; a prominent or central personage
in any remarkable action or event; hence, a great or
illustrious person.
Each man is a hero and oracle to somebody.
--Emerson.
3. The principal personage in a poem, story, and the like, or
the person who has the principal share in the transactions
related; as Achilles in the Iliad, Ulysses in the Odyssey,
and [AE]neas in the [AE]neid.
The shining quality of an epic hero. --Dryden.
{Hero worship}, extravagant admiration for great men, likened
to the ancient worship of heroes.
Hero worship exists, has existed, and will forever
exist, universally among mankind. --Carlyle.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
hero
n 1: a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and
strength; "RAF pilots were the heroes of the Battle of
Britain"
2: the principal character in a play or movie or novel or poem
3: someone who fights for a cause [syn: {champion}, {fighter},
{paladin}]
4: Greek mathematician and inventor who devised a way to
determine the area of a triangle and who described various
mechanical devices (first century) [syn: {Hero}, {Heron},
{Hero of Alexandria}]
5: (classical mythology) a being of great strength and courage
celebrated for bold exploits; often the offspring of a
mortal and a god
6: (Greek mythology) priestess of Aphrodite who killed herself
when her lover Leander drowned while trying to swim the
Hellespont to see her [syn: {Hero}]
7: a large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise
and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and
lettuce and condiments); different names are used in
different sections of the United States [syn: {bomber}, {grinder},
{hero sandwich}, {hoagie}, {hoagy}, {Cuban sandwich}, {Italian
sandwich}, {poor boy}, {sub}, {submarine}, {submarine
sandwich}, {torpedo}, {wedge}, {zep}]
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