medusa

UK: 'Medusa', 'medusa': /mɪˈdjuːsə/, /mɪˈdjuːzə/

US: 'Medusa', 'medusa': (mə do̅o̅′sə, -zə, -dyo̅o̅′-)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

me•du•sa  (mə do̅o̅′sə, -zə, -dyo̅o̅′-), n., pl. -sas, -sae (-sē, -zē). [Zool.]

1. a saucer-shaped or dome-shaped, free-swimming jellyfish or hydra.

• 1750–60; special use of Medusa, alluding to the Gorgon's snaky locks

me•du•soid  (mə do̅o̅′soid, -dyo̅o̅′-), adj. 
Me•du•sa  (mə do̅o̅′sə, -zə, -dyo̅o̅′-), n., pl. -sas. [Class. Myth.]

1. the only mortal of the three Gorgons. She was killed by Perseus, and her head was mounted upon the aegis of Zeus and Athena.

• Greek Médousa, special use of médousa, feminine of médōn ruling
• Latin

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

medusa / mɪˈdjuːzə/ noun ( -sas, -sae / -ziː/)

1. another name for jellyfish1
2. one of the two forms in which a coelenterate exists. It has a jelly-like umbrella-shaped body, is free swimming, and produces gametes
   Compare polyp

Etymology: 18th Century: from the likeness of its tentacles to the snaky locks of Medusa

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Medusa / mɪˈdjuːzə/ noun

1. a mortal woman who was transformed by Athena into one of the three Gorgons. Her appearance was so hideous that those who looked directly at her were turned to stone. Perseus eventually slew her
   See also Pegasus1

Meˈdusan, Meˈdusal adjective