Meaning of cecaelia | Babel Free
/sɪˈsiːliə/Definitions
A composite mythical being, combining the head, arms and torso of a woman (more rarely a man) and, from the lower torso down, the tentacles of an octopus or squid as a form of mermaid, sea witch, or sea demon.
Examples
“During planning for the film, Ursula was not originally designed as a cecaelia (a composite mythical being, combining the head, arms and torso of a woman, and from the lower torso down, the tentacles of an octopus or squid as a form of mermaid or sea demon). It was thought that she would be another sea creature, such as a rockfish-like mermaid.”
“A mundane company had hired him to summon up a cecaelia demon. For the amount of money they were paying, and considering that cecaelia demons were lesser demons who could scarcely cause all that much fuss, Magnus had agreed to not ask questions.”
“A spear of flame lanced out to strike the cecaelia. It shrieked and writhed as the heat seared its flesh, dropping its spear to bat at the smoldering wounds. Torius took the opportunity to drive his cutlass up into its chest. Still the thing clutched him, tentacles wrapping his arm and snaking around his neck. Celeste darted forward, but before she could reach him, an arrow transfixed the cecaelia’s head, and it fell.[…]She had seen that the pirates outnumbered the cecaelias, but the longer reach of the invaders’ spears and their entangling tentacles were wreaking havoc.”
“An officious Cecaelia rapped the floor of the platform sternly and called the court to order. After a few more raps and some stern looks, there was silence. She bowed deeply to Atlantica who bid her to continue with a wave.”
“URSULA |Film| “The Little Mermaid” (1989) |Voiced by| Pat Carroll |Special attributes| She’s a cecaelia (a human-octopus mashup) with magical powers.”
“Mademoiselle halted momentarily to marvel at a cecaelia rising furiously from the waves being whipped into foam by her tentacles and brandishing a trident high above.”
“Ursula’s form is a cecaelia, a half human and half octopus.”
“While the Disney’s corporate Wiki site page on Ursula identifies her as a “villainous cecaelian sea witch” and characterises the cecaelia as “a legendary hybrid of human and octopus”, the figure of a monstrous tentacled female has little precedent in Western mythology or folklore. Rather than deriving from these sources, the cecaelia is a more modern figure that developed as a distinct entity within a dispersed node of fantasy aficionados and artists.”
““Do you know what happens when you swallow a cecaelia’s tentacles” smirked Agalia when suddenly Zwart let out a squeak and grabbed his stomach and to everyone’s surprise cried out helplessly.[…]“They are the Seven High Sentinels of the Kingdom of Durkinbird, appointed by the King himself from each clanring to serve the palace and the kingdom, don’t be deceived by their cheerful behaviour, they are dignified warriors that guard the King and his palace and each one of them is strong enough to take down an entire army of cecaelias in mere seconds, the fact that the King has summoned all of them to carry out a task, the task must be mighty dangerous.””
“Ursula is a Cecaelia; half-human, half-octopus.”
“The lead cecaelia ship left its fleet formation to dock with the main mermaid ship. Aboard Titan’s Caravan’s ship, all watched as the cecaelia leaders walked with their long tentacles, their bodies riding along.[…]The same water fae were present from the meeting on Queen Issaleth’s red ship, and the room was filled with water to everyone’s chest—except the cecaelia. With their tentacles, their upper torsos hung well above the water.[…]Cecaelia are said to have bodies free of bones (though not true) because of their seemingly impossibly fast movements, flexibility, reflexes, and speed.”
“In Asian and North American folklore, Cecaelia is described as an “octopus-woman.””
““I saw a man with a shark tail before,” Elva put in. “They are called triakis, and the octopus people? Those are cecaelia.”[…]They turned to find an elderly cecaelia entering the pavilion, flanked by four guards.[…]Morgan bellowed to the mass of mermaids, naiads, triakis and cecaelia.”
“Risa can manipulate the power of the High Seas, and transform into a cecaelia, famous throughout Nassau as Sumitomo’s sorceress, predicts the outcomes of battles and potential threats, she tells the fortunes of pirates whether they die at land or sea, also Sumitomo’s lover, Risa’s devoted to Sumitomo, would do anything he asks of her, she betrayed clan Fujiwara for him, she’s blinded by love and lust, Sumitomo completely has her under his control.”
CEFR level
B2
Upper Intermediate
This word is part of the CEFR B2 vocabulary — upper intermediate level.
This word is part of the CEFR B2 vocabulary — upper intermediate level.