hydra

See also: hydrą, Hydra, and Hydrą

English

green hydra (Hydra viridissima)

Etymology

After the Hydra, from Greek mythology, which grew two new heads every time one of its heads was cut off. The first sense alludes to the budding method of asexual reproduction that the hydra practices, similar to growing new heads. The second sense refers to how the creature could not be killed by a swift, decisive solution (in contrast to a Gordian knot).

Pronunciation

• enPR: hī'drə, IPA^(key): /ˈhaɪdɹə/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Noun

hydra (plural hydras or hydrae or hydræ)

1. Any of several small freshwater polyps of the genus Hydra and related genera, having a naked cylindrical body and an oral opening surrounded by tentacles.
2. (fantasy) A dragon-like creature with many heads and the ability to regrow them when maimed.
3. A complex, multifarious problem or situation that cannot be solved easily and rapidly.
   • 2009, Kris Frieswick, Till Death Do Us Pay‎^[1]:

     Because the statute is so vaguely worded, award decisions are habitually based on case law, the growing mountain of which is a hydra of rulings that point in so many directions that almost any decision can be defended or overturned on appeal, depending on how smart your lawyer is and which precedent he selects to argue your case.

Derived terms

• brown hydra (Hydra oligactis)
• freshwater hydra (Hydra vulgaris)
• green hydra (Hydra viridissima)
• microhydra (Craspedacusta)

Translations

any of several small freshwater polyps of the genus Hydra and related genera

• Belarusian: гі́дра f (hídra)
• Bulgarian: хи́дра (bg) f (hídra)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 水螅 (zh) (shuǐxī)

• Czech: nezmar m
• Finnish: lampipolyyppi
• French: hydre (fr) f
• Galician: hidra (gl) f
• German: Hydra (de) f
• Hungarian: hidra (hu)
• Japanese: ヒドラ (ja) (hidora)
• Korean: 히드라 (hideura)
• Latin: hydra f
• Maori: hurumoana
• Navajo: gaanłáníchilí dóó gaanłání doo yitʼíinii pl
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} هیدر‎ (hidr)
• Polish: stułbia f
• Portuguese: hidra f
• Romanian: hidră (ro) f
• Russian: ги́дра (ru) f (gídra)
• Spanish: hydra f
• Swedish: hydra (sv) c
• Tagalog: idra
• Telugu: హైడ్రా (haiḍrā)
• Thai: ไฮดรา (th) (hai-draa)
• Ukrainian: гі́дра f (hídra)
• Vietnamese: thuỷ tức

complex, multifarious problem

• Finnish: ongelmavyyhti
• Galician: hidra (gl) f
• Portuguese: bicho de sete cabeças (pt) f

References

• *hydra at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Hydra (genus) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Hydra on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Hydra on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• Hardy, hardy

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ὕδρα (húdra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɦɪdra]
• Rhymes: -ɪdra
• Hyphenation: hyd‧ra

Noun

hydra f

1. (Greek mythology, Roman mythology, singular only) Hydra, a mythological serpent with seven heads
   • 2010, Jana Eislerová, Staré řecké báje a pověsti‎^[2], Fragment, →ISBN, page 21:

     Král nařizoval, aby Herakles zabil hydru, která děsila lidi a ničila kraj kolem města Lernu.

     The king ordered Herakles to kill Hydra, which had been frightening people and destroying the land around the city of Lerna.

2. something monstrous which is extremely difficult to fight with (often connected with organized crime)
   • (Can we date this quote?) (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     Šéf Útvaru pro odhalování organizovaného zločinu Robert Šlachta popsal veřejnosti, jak vlastně vypadá kauza Nagyová, kmotři a korupčníci. Je to hluboká klientelistická hydra.

     The boss of the police unit for combating organized crime Robert Šlachta has described to the public how the case of Nagyová, godfathers and bribers appears. It is a deep clientelistic hydra.

3. Hydra, a genus of hydrozoan in family Hydridae
   • 2017, Filip Drlík, Obsahují davy: O mikrobech v nás, kolem nás a o jejich fascinujícím vlivu na náš život‎^[3], Jan Melvil, translation of original by Ed Yong, →ISBN:

     Mytologická hydra terorizovala vesničany svým jedovatým dechem a krví, přičemž skutečná hydra zabíjí perloočky a korýše pomocí žahavých buněk, z nichž vystřeluje otrávené harpuny.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

Declension

Declension of hydra (hard feminine reducible)

	singular	plural
nominative	hydra	hydry
genitive	hydry	hyder
dative	hydře	hydrám
accusative	hydru	hydry
vocative	hydro	hydry
locative	hydře	hydrách
instrumental	hydrou	hydrami

Alternative forms

• Hydra (serpent)

Synonyms

• (genus Hydra): nezmar

Hypernyms

• (genus Hydra): živočichové – regnum; žahavci – phylum; polypovci – class; nezmaři – order; nezmarovití – family

Hyponyms

• (genus Hydra): nezmar hvězdnatý, nezmar obecný, nezmar opásaný, nezmar ostropouzdrý, nezmar podélník, nezmar štíhlý, nezmar zelený

Related terms

• See hydro-

Further reading

• hydra in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• hydra in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Anagrams

• drahý
• dráhy
• hadry
• hrady

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὕδρα (húdra).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈhy.dra/, [ˈhʏd̪rä]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈi.dra/, [ˈiːd̪rä]

Noun

hydra f (genitive hydrae); first declension (masculine hydrus)

1. A water-snake.

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	hydra	hydrae
Genitive	hydrae	hydrārum
Dative	hydrae	hydrīs
Accusative	hydram	hydrās
Ablative	hydrā	hydrīs
Vocative	hydra	hydrae

Related terms

• Hydra
• hydrus

References

• “hydra”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• hydra in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “hydra”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎^[4]
• “hydra”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “hydra”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly

Polish

Alternative forms

• Hydra

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin hydra, from Ancient Greek ὕδρα (húdra), from Proto-Indo-European *udréh₂, the feminine form of *udrós, from the root *wed-. Doublet of nutria (“coypu”) and wydra (“otter”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxɨd.ra/
• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ˈxɨ.drɒ/
• Rhymes: -ɨdra
• Syllabification: hyd‧ra
• Homophone: Hydra

Noun

hydra f

1. (fantasy) hydra (dragon-like creature with many heads and the ability to regrow them when maimed)

   Hypernym: stworzenie

2. (figuratively) evil that is difficult to eradicate

   Hypernym: zło

3. hydra; freshwater polyp from the genus Hydra

   Synonym: stułbia

Declension

Declension of hydra

	singular	plural
nominative	hydra	hydry
genitive	hydry	hydr
dative	hydrze	hydrom
accusative	hydrę	hydry
instrumental	hydrą	hydrami
locative	hydrze	hydrach
vocative	hydro	hydry

Further reading

• hydra in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• hydra in Polish dictionaries at PWN