English

Proper noun

Janus

1. (Roman mythology) The god of gates and doorways; having two faces looking in opposite directions.
   • 1789, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 5, 1805, page 166,

     But the brazen temple of Janus was left standing in the forum; of a size sufficient only to contain the statue of the god, five cubits height, of a human form, but with two faces, directed to the east and west.

   • 1818, Susan Edmonstoune Ferrier, Marriage, Chapter V,

     "I'll tell you what we can do," cried her persevering patroness; "we can go as masks, and Lady Juliana shall know nothing about it. That will save the scandal of an open revolt or a tiresome dispute. Half the company will be masked; so, if you keep your own secret, nobody will find it out. Come, what characters shall we choose?"

     "That of Janus, I think, would be the most suitable for me," said Mary.

   • 1905, Livy, Canon Roberts (translator), From the Founding of the City, Book 1: The Earliest Legends,

     Thinking that the ferocity of his subjects might be mitigated by the disuse of arms, he built the temple of Janus at the foot of the Aventine as an index of peace and war, to signify when it was open that the State was under arms, and when it was shut that all the surrounding nations were at peace.

   • 2008, John Lowe, "Laughin' up a World: Their Eyes Were Watching God and the (Wo)Man of Words", in Harold Bloom (editor), Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, page 75,

     Janus, with his two heads, his mystery, his depiction as both laughing and serious, and the obvious parallel this forms with the masks of attic tragedy and comedy would make him a double of the two-headed man, the conjurer, and an associate of the trickster in folk comedy as well.

2. A two-faced person, a hypocrite.
3. (astronomy) A moon of Saturn.

Usage notes

The temple of Janus was traditionally open only during time of war. Hence, for example:

• The present occupants of the Treasury Bench are determined that so long as they retain their places the Temple of Janus shall not be closed. — 1879 February 27, A. M. Sullivan, On the Zulu War (speech before the UK House of Commons).

Translations

Derived terms

Danish

Etymology

From Latin Iānus. Has been used as a Latinization of the Danish given name Jens.

Proper noun

Janus

1. A male given name.
2. (Roman mythology) Janus
3. (astronomy) Janus

Estonian

Proper noun

Janus

1. (Roman mythology) Janus

Faroese

Proper noun

Janus m

1. A male given name, compare Danish Jens.

Usage notes

Patronymics

• son of Janus: Janussson or Janusarson
• daughter of Janus: Janusdóttir or Janusardóttir

Declension