Desdemona

See also: Desdémona and Desdemoną

English

Alternative forms

• Disdemona

Etymology

Coined based on Ancient Greek δυσ- (dus-) + δαίμων (daímōn), hence "ill-fated, unfortunate".

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌdɛzdəˈmoʊnə/
• Hyphenation: Des‧de‧mo‧na

Proper noun

Desdemona

1. Othello's wife in Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, noted for being a victim of jealousy.
   • 1919, Lee Meriwether, The War Diary of a Diplomat:

     As I looked out of the corner of my eye at this savagely picturesque fellow, wondering where was his Desdemona, a dainty and remarkably pretty piece of femininity entered the car, advanced to our table and sat herself beside Othello.

   • 1848, James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, page 77:

     On the first of these days' amusements ( I know not what year ) Frank took offence at some attentions paid his Desdemona, and walked away next morning to London in wrath.

   • 2005, Boyd Litzinger, Donald Smalley, Robert Browning: The Critical Heritage, page 260:

     Luria, the Moor of Florence, is a sentimentally magnanimous Othello without his passions and without his Desdemona.

   • 2012, Alvin O. Korte, Nosotros: A Study of Everyday Meanings in Hispano New Mexico:

     Devastated by early losses, the narcissistic lover is unable to live with his Desdemona because he is unable to live without his idealization of her.

2. (astronomy) An inner moon of the planet Uranus.
3. (astronomy) 666 Desdemona, a main-belt asteroid discovered in 1908.

Antonyms

• Eudaimonia

Translations

character

• Esperanto: Dezdemono
• Finnish: Desdemona
• French: Desdémone (fr) f
• Polish: Desdemona f
• Russian: Дездемона f (Dezdemona)

moon of Uranus

• Esperanto: Dezdemono
• Finnish: Desdemona
• French: Desdémone (fr)
• German: Desdemona f
• Italian: Desdemona (it) m
• Japanese: デズデモーナ (ja) (Dezudemōna)
• Malayalam: ഡെസ്ഡിമോണ (ḍesḍimōṇa)
• Polish: Desdemona f
• Russian: Дездемона f (Dezdemona)
• Spanish: Desdémona

main-belt asteroid

• Esperanto: Dezdemono
• Japanese: デズデモーナ (ja) (Dezudemōna)
• Polish: Desdemona f

Further reading

• “Desdemona”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “Desdemona”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin Desdemona.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛz.dɛˈmɔ.na/
• Rhymes: -ɔna
• Syllabification: Des‧de‧mo‧na

Proper noun

Desdemona f

1. Desdemona (moon of Uranus)

Declension

Declension of Desdemona

	singular
nominative	Desdemona
genitive	Desdemony
dative	Desdemonie
accusative	Desdemonę
instrumental	Desdemoną
locative	Desdemonie
vocative	Desdemono

Further reading

• Desdemona in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Desdemona in PWN's encyclopedia

Turkish

Proper noun

Desdemona

1. (astronomy) Desdemona