Brewer's: Cocytus

[Ko-kytus ]. One of the five rivers of hell. The word means the “river of lamentation.” The unburied were doomed to wander about its banks for 100 years. (Greek, koku'o, to weep.)

Cocytus, named of lamentation loud Heard on the rueful stream.

Milton: Paradise Lost, ii. 579.

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language