Gr. Myth. a monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull (in some versions, with the body of a bull and the head of a man), confined by Minos in a labyrinth built by Daedalus, and annually fed seven youths and seven maidens from Athens, until killed by Theseus
Origin:
ME Minotaure < L Minotaurus < Gr Minōtauros < Minōs, Minos + tauros, a bull, akin to L taurus: see Taurus
See Minotaur in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun Greek Mythology
A monster who was half man and half bull, to whom young Athenian men and women were sacrificed in the Cretan labyrinth until Theseus killed him.