Argus
(ˈɑːgəs)
[L., a. Gr. ἀργός.]
1. A mythological person fabled to have had a hundred eyes. Hence, a very vigilant person, a watcher or guardian.
| 1387 Trevisa Descr. Brit. (Caxton) 37 They ben in araye tormentours in wynnyngis argi. 1557 Myrr. Mag., Induct. xvii, With more then Argus' eyes. 1580 Tusser Husb. xlix, If cheeses in dairie haue Argusses eies. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 65, I hope still, Argus, to be too hard for thee. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. (1864) IX. xiv. x. 349 The Argus-eyes of the still ubiquitous clergy. |
[After the death of Argus, his eyes were transferred by Hera to the tail of the peacock.]
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 17 Fayre pecocks..full of Argus eyes their tayles dispredden wide. |
2. A genus of pheasants, natives of Asia, of which one species (A. giganteus) is as large as a turkey.
| 1768 Gentl. Mag. XXXVIII. 521 The argus..is the largest species of pheasant yet known. 1829 Griffith, etc. Cuvier VIII. 237 The argus was brought for the first time to Batavia from Malacca in 1780. 1834 Malte-Brun's Univ. Geog. III. 431 The coo-ow, or Argos pheasant, is remarked for its uncommon beauty. |
3. A name for certain butterflies of the genus Polyommatus, with many eye-like spots on the wings.
| 1827 Jermyn Butterfly Coll. Vade Mecum 146/7 Brown Argus; Scotch Argus. |
4. Comb. or attrib., as argus-eyed, -like a., extremely watchful or sharp-sighted; argus-queller, a title of the god Mercury; argus-shell, name of a species of porcelain-shell; argus-snake (see quot.).
| 1603 Florio Montaigne (1634) 305 No humane judgement is so..Argos-eied, but sometimes shal fall a sleep. 1861 Motley Dutch Rep. Pref. 3 Argus-eyed Venetian envoys. 1663 Gerbier Counsel G ij a, All Creatures, from the Mole to the most Argus-like above ground. 1870 Bryant Homer II. xvi. 122 The mighty Argus-queller saw the maid. 1750 Sir J. Hill Hist. Anim. 152 (Jod.) The argus shell, the oblong oculated porcellana. 1802 G. Shaw Zool. III. 439 The Argus Snake..is beautifully marked from head to tail by numerous transverse rows of round ocellated red spots. |