The girdle of Venus
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
See CESTUS. To put a girdle round the earth. To travel or go round it. Puck says, "I'll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes." (Midsummer Nighf's Dream, ii, 2.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “The girdle of Venus” mean?
See CESTUS. To put a girdle round the earth. To travel or go round it. Puck says, "I'll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes." (Midsummer Nighf's Dream, ii, 2.
Is “The girdle of Venus” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.