Editing Minotaur (section)

==Etymology==
The word "Minotaur" derives from the [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|Μινώταυρος}} {{IPA|el|miːnɔ̌ːtau̯ros|}} a [[compound (linguistics)|compound]] of the name {{lang|grc|Μίνως}} ([[Minos]]) and the noun {{wikt-lang|grc|ταῦρος}} ''tauros'' meaning {{gloss|bull}},<ref name="collins_american" /> thus it is translated as the {{gloss|Bull of Minos}}. In Crete, the Minotaur was known by the name Asterion ({{lang|grc|Ἀστερίων}}) or Asterius ({{lang|grc|Ἀστέριος}}),<ref>{{cite book |author=Pausanias |author-link=Pausanias (geographer) |title=Description of Greece |at=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.31.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160 2.31.1]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Apollodorus |title=Library |at=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.31.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160 3.1.4]}}</ref> a name shared with Minos's foster-father.{{efn|Hesiod says of Zeus's establishment of Europa in Crete:
: "...&nbsp;he made her live with [[Asterion (king of Crete)|Asterion]] the king of the Cretans. There she conceived and bore three sons, [[Minos]], [[Sarpedon (Trojan War hero)|Sarpedon]], and [[Rhadamanthys]]."<ref name=Hesiod-fr140>{{cite book |author=[[Hesiod]] |title=[[Catalogue of Women]] |at=fr. 140}}</ref>}}

"Minotaur" was originally a proper noun in reference to this mythic figure. That is, there was only the one Minotaur. In contrast, the use of "minotaur" as a common noun to refer to members of a generic "species" of bull-headed creatures developed much later, in 20th&nbsp;century fantasy genre fiction.

The Minotaur was called ''{{lang|la|{{linktext|Minotaurus}}}}'' {{IPA|la|miːnoːˈtau̯rʊs|}} in [[Latin]] and {{lang|ett|Θevrumineš}} in [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=de&nbsp;Simone |first=C. |title=Zu einem Beitrag über etruskisch ''θevru mines'' |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung |volume=84 |year=1970 |pages=221–223}}</ref> English pronunciation of the word "Minotaur" is varied; the following can be found in dictionaries: {{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|aɪ|n|ə|t|ɔːr|,_|-|n|oʊ|-}} {{respell|MY|nə|tor|,_-|noh|-}},<ref name="collins_english" /> {{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɪ|n|ə|t|ɑːr|,_|ˈ|m|ɪ|n|oʊ|-}} {{respell|MIN|ə|tar|,_|MIN|oh|-}},<ref name="books.google.com" /> {{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɪ|n|ə|t|ɔːr|,_|ˈ|m|ɪ|n|oʊ|-}} {{respell|MIN|ə|tor|,_|MIN|oh|-}}.<ref name="collins_american">{{cite dictionary  |title=Minotaur |dictionary=American English Dictionary |publisher=Collins |url= http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/american/minotaur |access-date=20 July 2013}}</ref>