# Philomela

> English word · Proper noun

## Definitions
1. A female given name.
2. the sister of Procne who is raped and mutilated by her brother-in-law Tereus and supposedly transformed into a bird by the gods.
3. The nightingale.

## Etymology
From Latin Philomela, from Ancient Greek Φιλομήλη (Philomḗlē), from φίλος (phílos, “love”) + μῆλον (mêlon, “apple; fruit; sheep”), but folk-etymologized since at least Ovid's time as "lover of song".

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/philomela