python

python
python1
/puy"thon, -theuhn/, n.
any of several Old World boa constrictors of the subfamily Pythoninae, often growing to a length of more than 20 ft. (6 m): the Indian python, Python molurus, is endangered.
[1580-90; < NL; special use of PYTHON]
python2
/puy"thon, -theuhn/, n.
1. a spirit or demon.
2. a person who is possessed by a spirit and prophesies by its aid.
[1595-1605; < LGk pýthon; relation to PYTHON unclear]

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Any of 28 species (family Pythonidae, sometimes a subfamily of Boidae) of sluggish, docile, nonvenomous snakes found in tropical and temperate regions.

Except for one Central American species (Loxocemus bicolor), pythons are found from western Africa to China, Australia, and the Pacific islands. Pythons feed on birds and mammals, killing them by constriction. Most are found near water; some are arboreal. Unlike boas, pythons lay eggs (15–100, depending on body size). The Asian reticulated python (Python reticulatus) may be the world's longest snake (the anaconda is heavier); specimens over 30 ft (9 m) long have been recorded.

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      in Greek mythology, a huge serpent that was killed by the god Apollo at Delphi either because it would not let him found his oracle, being accustomed itself to giving oracles, or because it had persecuted Apollo's mother, Leto, during her pregnancy. In the earliest account, the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, the serpent is nameless and female, but later it is male, as in Euripides' Iphigenia Among the Taurians, and named Python (found first in the account of the 4th-century-BC historian Ephorus; Pytho was the old name for Delphi). Python was traditionally the child of Gaea (Earth) who had an oracle at Delphi before Apollo came. The Pythian Games held at Delphi were supposed to have been instituted by Apollo to celebrate his victory over Python.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • python — [ pitɔ̃ ] n. m. • 1803; lat. python, gr. puthôn, nom du serpent fabuleux tué par Apollon ♦ Serpent constricteur de très grande taille (boïdés), vivant en Asie et en Afrique, non venimeux, qui broie sa proie entre ses anneaux avant de l avaler.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Python — (griechisch Πύθων) steht für: Python (Mythologie), ein Drache in der griechischen Mythologie Pythons (Pythoninae), eine Unterfamilie der Riesenschlangen (Boidae) Eigentliche Pythons (Python), eine Gattung aus der Unterfamilie der Pythons… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Python 3 — Python III Python 3 Allgemeine Angaben Typ: Luft Luft Lenkwaffe …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Python — PYTHON, ónis, Gr. Πύθων, ωνος, des Demogorgons und der Erde, Hygin. Præf. p. 14. oder doch wenigstens dieser Sohn. Id. Fab. 140. Er war ein grausamer Drache, der, nach einigen, mit seinem besondern Namen Delphynes hieß, und eigentlich weibliches… …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon

  • Python(x,y) — Тип набор инструментов на основе Python Операционная система Windows Последняя версия 2.7.3.0 Лицензия Лицензия GNU/Linux version Сайт http://code.google.com …   Википедия

  • Python — Smf (eine Riesenschlange) per. Wortschatz fach. (20. Jh.) Onomastische Bildung. Nach gr. Pӯthōn, dem Namen der von Apollo getöteten Schlange, die das Orakel in Delphi hütete.    Ebenso nndl. python, ne. python, nfrz. python, nschw. pyton, nnorw.… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • Python — Py thon, n. [NL., fr. L. Python the serpent slain near Delphi by Apollo, Gr. ?.] 1. (Zo[ o]l.) Any species of very large snakes of the genus {Python}, and allied genera, of the family {Pythonid[ae]}. They are nearly allied to the boas. Called… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • python — 1580s, fabled serpent, slain by Apollo, near Delphi, from L. Python, from Gk. Python, probably related to Pytho, the old name of Delphi, perhaps itself related to pythein to rot. Zoological application to large non venomous snakes of the tropics… …   Etymology dictionary

  • python — [pī′thän΄, pī′thən] n. [L < Gr Pythōn < Pythō: see PYTHIAN] 1. [P ] Gr. Myth. an enormous serpent that lurks in the cave of Mount Parnassus and is slain by Apollo 2. any of a genus (Python, family Boidae) of very large, nonvenomous snakes… …   English World dictionary

  • Python [1] — Python, 1) (Myth.), so v.w. Delphyne 1). 2) (P. Daudin), Gattung der Schlangen, zu den Schlingern gerechnet; Zwischenkiefer mit Zähnen, die vorderen Lippenschilder u. das Rüsselschild mit tiefer Grube, Schwanz unten mit paarigen Schildern;… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Python [2] — Python, 1) Sohn des Krateas, Feldherr Alexanders des Großen auf dem Persischen Feldzug, von dem König aber wegen seiner revolutionären Gesinnung gefürchtet; er bekam nach Alexanders Tode bei der ersten Ländertheilung Medien zu verwalten, zog mit… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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