Laocoön

La·oc·o·ön

noun \lā-ˈä-kə-ˌwän\

Definition of LAOCOÖN

: a Trojan priest killed with his sons by two sea serpents after warning the Trojans against the wooden horse

Origin of LAOCOÖN

Latin, from Greek Laokoōn

First Known Use: 1582

Rhymes with LAOCOÖN

abutilon, Agamemnon, anticodon, antiproton, archenteron, arrière-ban, asyndeton, automaton, Azerbaijan, Bellerophon, bildungsroman, carrying-on, diazinon, dodecagon, emoticon, encephalon, get a move on, himation, interferon, kakiemon, keep an eye on, mesenteron, Michoacán, millimicron, oxymoron, phenomenon, protozoon, pteranodon, put the arm on, put the make on, rear echelon, Rostov-on-Don, Saskatchewan, septentrion, set one's heart on, set one's sights on, sine qua non, steal a march on, take it out on, Taklimakan, turn one's back on, Vientiane, wipe one's boots on, zero coupon, zooplankton

Laocoön

   (Concise Encyclopedia)

In Greek legend, a seer and priest of Apollo. He was the son of Agenor of Troy or the brother of Aeneas's father Anchises. Laocoön offended Apollo by breaking his priestly vow of celibacy and begetting children, and by warning the Trojans not to accept the wooden horse presented by the Greeks. While preparing to offer a sacrifice to Poseidon, he and his two sons were crushed to death by sea serpents sent by Apollo.