stygian (STIJ-ee-uhn) - adj., dark or gloomy; infernal, hellish; (capitalized) of, pertaining to, or resembling the River Styx.
The former meanings being metaphoric extensions of the last. The Styx is, of course, one of the rivers of the Greek underworld, specifically the one that the dead cross in Charon's boat, and the -g- comes from the way the name stems as a combining form. First known English use is from 1513.
---L.
The former meanings being metaphoric extensions of the last. The Styx is, of course, one of the rivers of the Greek underworld, specifically the one that the dead cross in Charon's boat, and the -g- comes from the way the name stems as a combining form. First known English use is from 1513.
---L.