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venus

1. The goddess of beauty and love, that is, beauty or love deified.

2. (Science: anatomy) One of the planets, the second in order from the sun, its orbit lying between that of mercury and that of the earth, at a mean distance from the sun of about 67,000,000 miles. Its diameter is 7,700 miles, and its sidereal period 224.7 days. As the morning star, it was called by the ancients lucifer; as the evening star, Hesperus.

3. (Science: chemistry) The metal copper; probably so designated from the ancient use of the metal in making mirrors, a mirror being still the astronomical symbol of the planet Venus.

4. (Science: zoology) Any one of numerous species of marine bivalve shells of the genus Venus or family Veneridae. Many of these shells are large, and ornamented with beautiful frills; others are smooth, glossy, and handsomely coloured. Some of the larger species, as the round clam, or quahog, are valued for food.

(Science: botany) Venus's basin Any heteropod shell of the genus Carinaria. See Carinaria.

Origin: L. Venus, -eris, the goddess of love, the planet Venus.