Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Hydra |
HydraNoun1. (Greek mythology) monster with nine heads; when struck off each head was replaced by two new ones; "Hydra was slain by Hercules". 2. A long faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near the equator stretching between Virgo and Cancer. 3. Small tubular solitary freshwater hydrozoan polyp. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "Hydra" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1596. (references) |
Etymology: Hydra \Hy"dra\, noun; plural English Hydras, from Latin expression Hydr[ae]. [Latin expression hydra, Greek "y`dra; akin to "y`dwr water. See Otter the animal, Water.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Satire | HYDRA, n. A kind of animal that the ancients catalogued under many heads. Source: Devil's Dictionary. |
Aerospace | See constellation.Abbreviation Hya, Hyda. (references) |
Health | A genus of freshwater cnidarians, of interest because of their complex organization and because their adult organization corresponds roughly to the gastrula of higher animals. (references) |
Literature | Hydra A monster of the Lernean marshes, in Argolis. It had nine heads, and Hercules was sent to kill it. As soon as he struck off one of its heads, two shot up in its place. Hydra-headed. Having as many heads as the hydra (q.v.); a difficulty which goes on increasing as it is combated. Hydra-headed multitude. The rabble, which not only is many-headed numerically, but seems to grow more numerous the more it is attacked and resisted. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In astronomy, Hydra (the sea monster) is a constellation. See Hydra (constellation). Sometimes Hydra is confused with the constellation Hydrus.
In Greek mythology, the Hydra is the many-headed serpent which Heracles defeated. See Lernaean Hydra
Hydra is one of the Saronic Islands in Greece.
Hydra is also the name of a distributed operating system developed at Carnegie Mellon University.
In zoology, Hydra is a of simple fresh-water animal. Found in the phylum Cnidaria, of the class Hydrozoa. Hydras' are radial in symmetry. [Cnidocytes] are unique cells used by hydras to make nematocytes. Nematocytes are stinging capsules that look like light bulbs with a wiggling string coming out of the middle. Nematocytes make an electrical discharge that is used to paralyze their prey. Hydras have an integument made of mesoglea, a gel like substance. The integument is made of an outer epidermis and internal gastrodermis that are seperate from the other. The [colelentron] is in the middle of the gastrovascular cavity and is the place where the digestion process occurs. They have tenticles where the cnidocytes are held. Hydras go through a body change from a polyp to the adult form called the medusa. Hydras have nerve net for a nervous system which is primitive compared to mammalian nervous systems that they do not have a brain. Nerve nets are connecting sensory photoreceptor nerve cells that are found in the body wall of hydras. Photoreceptors detect light and send signals to the body.
References
Gilberson, Lance, Zoology Lab Manual 4th edition. Primis CustomPublishing. 1999Solomon, E., Berg, l., Martin, D., Biology 6th edition. Brooks/Cole Publishing. 2002Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Hydra."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Hydra is the largest of the 88 modern constellations, and was also one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy. It should not be confused with Hydrus.Despite its size, Hydra contains only one reasonably bright star (Alphard, α Hya). It also contains the radio source Hydra A.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Hydra (constellation)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Hydra is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf.No motor vehicles are allowed on this island, so the public transportation is provided by taxi-donkeys.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Hydra, Saronic Islands."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In Greek mythology, The Lernaean Hydra was a vicious monster killed by Heracles as one of his Twelve Labors.
Upon reaching the swamp near Lake Lerna, where the Hydra dwelt, Heracles covered his mouth and nose with a cloth to protect himself from the poisonous fumes and fired flaming arrows into its lair to draw it out. He then confronted it, but upon cutting off one of its heads he found that it (or two) grew back, the same happened again upon cutting off a second head; realising that he could not defeat the hydra in this way Heracles called on Iolaus for help. His nephew then came upon the idea (possibly inspired by Athena) of using a burning firebrand to scorch the neck stumps after decapitation and handed him the blazing brand. Heracles cut off each head and Iolaus burned the open stump leaving the hydra dead and taking its one immortal head he placed it under a great rock, and dipped his arrows in the hydra's poisonous blood, and so his second task was complete. In an alternate version, Hera sent a crab to bite his feet and bother him, hoping to cause his death. When Eurystheus found out that it was Heracles' nephew who had handed him the firebrand he declared that the labour had not been completed alone and as a result did not count towards the ten labours set for him.
The term "Hydra" is often used today when referring to a problem that seems to share this sort of characteristic, for example when attempts to suppress a particular piece of information result in it being disseminated even more widely.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Lernaean Hydra."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
HYDRA | English | Hydrogen from Biomass | N/A |
HYDRA | French | Hydrogène tiré de la biomasse | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonym: HydraSynonym: Snake (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Productiveness | Milch cow, rabbit, hydra, warren, seed plot, land flowing with milk and honey; second crop, aftermath; aftercrop, aftergrowth; arrish, eddish, rowen; protoplasm; fertilization. |
Unconformity | Phoenix, chimera, hydra, sphinx, minotaur; griffin, griffon; centaur; saggittary; kraken, wyvern, roc, dragon, sea serpent; mermaid, merman, merfolk; unicorn; Cyclops, "men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders"; teratology. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Hydra |
| English words defined with "Hydra": Antlia ♦ crater ♦ Fresh-water polyp ♦ Great Attractor, Gymnochroa ♦ Hydr-, Hydrae, Hydras, Hydra-tainted, Hydriform ♦ Myoepithelial ♦ Nut grass ♦ polyp. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "Hydra": Alphard ♦ Hya, Hyda ♦ Lerna. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "Hydra": Otter. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Hydra" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Czech (hydra), Dutch (Hydra), Swedish (hydra). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Lyrics | Of the Hydra upon you (Get It On; performing artist: T Rex) | |
Movie/TV Titles | 2+5: Missione Hydra (1965) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
High Tech |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Figure 12. Hydra sounder, made by Mr. Gibbs and colleagues on the HMS HYDRA during the 1868 Indian Ocean expedition commanded by Captain Peter F. Shortland. Some of the first deep soundings in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans were made with this instrument rigged for use with a Hodge accumulator. Among the important soundings was one of over 3400 meters at 31.05 S Lat and 12.25E Long. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |  | Figure 14. Baillie sounder, a version of the Hydra sounder, was designed in 1871 by Lieutenant Charles W. Baillie, RN, when he was on the North American station. This instrument was almost immediately adopted by the British Hydrogra phic Office. Two of these instruments were placed on the CHALLENGER in 1873 and used successfully. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |
 | Figure 42. The "Hydra" Sounding Machine. In: "The Depths of the Sea" by C. Wyville Thomson, 1874. P. 218. Library Call Number GC75 .T48 2nd ed. 1874. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |  | Figure 21. Model of Hodge's shock absorber or accumulator. This device was invented in 1852 by Richard Edward Hodges. It was used to aid in launching and retrieving heavy objects suspended from cables or ropes, particularly when a vessel is subject to motion if the seas are high. It was first used in oceanographic work off H. M. S. HYDRA in 1867. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |
 | Noctua, Corvus, Crater, Sextans Uraniæ, Hydra, Felis, Lupus, Centaurus, Antlia Pneumatica, Argo Navis, and Pyxis Nautica / Sidy. Hall, sculpt. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | It was clear that the hydra of anarchy had got out of its box, and was raging in the quartier |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Hydra" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 77.30% of the time. "Hydra" is used about 141 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 77.3% | 109 | 31,132 |
| Noun (proper) | 22.7% | 32 | 61,292 |
| Total | 100.00% | 141 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "Hydra": genus Hydra. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "Hydra": hydra-headed, Hydra-tainted. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
hydra | 311 | hydra island hotel | 10 |
hydra sports boat | 112 | hydra table | 9 |
hydra os | 81 | hydra shok | 9 |
hydra sports | 68 | hydra tech | 9 |
hydra sport boat | 50 | gundam hydra toy | 8 |
hydra greece | 43 | hydra kayak | 8 |
hydra rib | 34 | hydra shock | 8 |
drill hydra | 27 | hydra sports.com | 7 |
hydra patch | 21 | hydra rig | 7 |
hydra pool | 17 | gundam hydra | 7 |
hydra picture | 17 | hydra zorb | 7 |
hydra sport | 15 | hydra head record | 7 |
constellation hydra | 12 | hydra fuel | 7 |
hydra island | 11 | federal hydra shok | 7 |
hydra cell | 11 | hydra head | 7 |
hydra joint | 11 | hydra spa | 6 |
boats.com hydra sport | 10 | hydra boat | 6 |
hydra hotel | 10 | hydra lift | 6 |
hydra mythology | 10 | hydra matic | 6 |
hydra mac | 10 | greece hydra island | 6 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "Hydra"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | hidra, hidër, e keqe e vazhdueshme. (various references) | |
Arabic | العدار, شر متعدد العناصر. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | хидра. (various references) | |
Czech | hydra. (various references) | |
Dutch | Hydra. (various references) | |
Esperanto | Hidro. (various references) | |
French | Hydrogène tiré de la biomasse (Hydrogen from Biomass), hydre, HYDRA (Hydrogen from Biomass), vibreur hydraulique (hydraulic shaker). (various references) | |
Greek | ύδρα. (various references) | |
Hungarian | vízikígyó, tömlősbelű, lernai hidra, hidra-féle, hidra, édesvízi hidra. (various references) | |
Italian | vibratore idraulico (hydraulic shaker), Idrogeno estratto dalla biomassa (Hydrogen from Biomass), idra. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 'ト成長ホルモン (human growth hormone), 海蛇座 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | 'ドラ , うみへびざ. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ydrahay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | hidra. (various references) | |
Romanian | hidrã, balaur (dragon, griffin, griffon). (various references) | |
Russian | гидра. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | hidra, polip (polyp), neman (calamity, gorgon, monster). (various references) | |
Spanish | hidra. (various references) | |
Swedish | hydra. (various references) | |
Thai | ตัวไฮ"รา. (various references) | |
Turkish | suyılanı takımyıldızı, suyılanı, polip (polyp, polype, polypus), püsküllü belâ, çok başlı yılan. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | гідра. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | colubrarum. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "Hydra": hydracid, hydracids, hydrae, hydragog, hydragogs, hydralazine, hydralazines, hydrangea, hydrangeas, hydrant, hydranth, hydranths, hydrants, hydras, hydrase, hydrases, hydrate, hydrated, hydrates, hydrating, hydration, hydrations, hydrator, hydrators, hydraulic, hydraulically, hydraulics, hydrazide, hydrazides, hydrazine, hydrazines. (additional references) | |
Words containing "Hydra": carbohydrase, carbohydrases, carbohydrate, carbohydrates, dehydrate, dehydrated, dehydrates, dehydrating, dehydration, dehydrations, dehydrator, dehydrators, dimethylhydrazine, dimethylhydrazines, diphenhydramine, diphenhydramines, electrohydraulic, hemihydrate, hemihydrated, hemihydrates, hexahydrate, hexahydrates, rehydratable, rehydrate, rehydrated, rehydrates, rehydrating, rehydration, rehydrations. (additional references) | |
| |
"Hydra" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Ghidrah, hedra, Heyderman, Hidri, Hiera, Hijrah, hyd, hydca, hydda, hydia, hydr, hydrau, hydrax, hydric, hydron, hydrox, hyra, hyrae, hyrde, hyrdo, hyrdra, hyro, hytril, Wyddfa, Yedra. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "Hydra" (pronounced hī"dru) |
| 3 | -d r u | Mudra, Pachysandra, tundra. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: hardy. | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-h-r-y" | |
-1 letter: dray, hard, yard. | |
-2 letters: dah, day, dry, had, hay, rad, rah, ray, rya, yah, yar. | |
-3 letters: ad, ah, ar, ay, ha, ya. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-h-r-y" | |
+1 letter: hardly, hydrae, hydras, hydria. | |
+2 letters: diarchy, dyarchy, halyard, hardily, hayride, hayward, hydrant, hydrase, hydrate, hydriae, thready. | |
+3 letters: birthday, charlady, draughty, dyarchic, endarchy, halyards, haulyard, hayrides, haywards, heraldry, hoorayed, hurrayed, hydracid, hydragog, hydranth, hydrants, hydrases, hydrated, hydrates, hydrator, hyracoid, nonhardy, rhapsody, shipyard. | |
+4 letters: anhydride, anhydrite, anhydrous, archduchy, birthdays, chandlery, chrysalid, dehydrate, diachrony, diathermy, dithyramb, dyarchies, dysphoria, foolhardy, haggardly, hamadryad, haulyards, holidayer, husbandry, hybridoma, hydracids, hydragogs, hydrangea, hydranths, hydrating, hydration, hydrators, hydraulic, hydrazide, hydrazine, hydrolase, hydrozoan, hyperacid, hyperarid, hyracoids, pachyderm, polyhedra, rehydrate, shadberry, shipyards, thyroidal. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Abbreviations 15. Acronyms 16. Derivations | 17. Rhymes 18. Anagrams 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
