Linus

Linus m

Latin form of the Greek name Linos, which is of uncertain origin. In Greek mythology, Linus is both a famous musician who taught music to Hercules and an infant son of Apollo who had been exposed to die on a mountainside in Argos. The name may have been invented to explain the obscure refrain, ‘ailinon’, of the so-called ‘Linus song’, a lament sung at harvest time in Argos. In the Christian era, Linus is the name of the second pope, St Peter's successor, who was martyred in c.76. He has been tentatively identified with the Linus to whom Paul sends greetings in 2 Timothy 4: 21. The given name has occasionally been used in America. It is now associated with a character in the extremely popular Peanuts strip cartoon series, a little boy inseparable from his security blanket.