What is "phyllis"

fem. proper name, generic proper name for a comely rustic maiden in pastoral poetry (1630s), from Latin Phyllis, a girl's name in Virgil, Horace, etc., from Greek Phyllis, female name, literally "foliage of a tree," from phyllon leaf," from PIE *bholyo- "leaf," from root *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom," possibly identical with *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole). In English, often spelled Phillis, probably from influence of phil- "loving." Her sweetheart usually was Philander.

Phyllis is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 8, 1975, to March 13, 1977. Created by Ed Weinberger and Stan Daniels, it was the second spin-off series from The Mary Tyler Moore Show (the first being Rhoda). The show starred Cloris Leachman as Phyllis Lindstrom, who was previously Mary Richards' landlady on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

In the new series, Phyllis and her daughter Bess Lindstrom moved from Minneapolis to San Francisco, after the death of her husband, Dr. Lars Lindstrom. It was revealed that San Francisco was Phyllis and Lars' original hometown, prior to their moving to Minneapolis, and that his mother and stepfather still resided there.

Phyllis is a character in Greek mythology, daughter of a Thracian king (according to some, of Sithon; most other accounts do not give her father's name at all, but one informs that he was named either Philander, Ciasus, or Thelus). She married Demophon, King of Athens and son of Theseus, while he stopped in Thrace on his journey home from the Trojan War.

Demophon, duty bound to Greece, returns home to help his father, leaving Phyllis behind. She sends him away with a casket, telling him that it contained a sacrament of Rhea and asking him to open it only if he has given up hope of returning to her. From here, the story diverges. In one version, Phyllis realizes that he will not return and commits suicide by hanging herself from a tree. Where she is buried, an almond tree grows, which blossoms when Demophon returns to her. In a second version of the story, Demophon opens the casket and, horrified by what he saw in there, rides off in such great haste that his horse stumbles and he accidentally falls on his own sword.

There is also some confusion regarding which nut tree she became, as hazelnuts were long called nux Phyllidos, and are still sometimes called "filberts" today. In English, this version goes back at least to Gower, who writes in Confessio Amantis (ca. 1390):

This story most notably appears in the second poem of Ovid's Heroides, a book of epistolary poems from mythological women to their respective men, and it also appears in the Aitia of Callimachus.

The Nine Ways is derived from the story of Phyllis, who is said to have returned nine times to the shores to wait for Demophon's return.

"Phyllis" (or "Phillis") is commonly used as a female given name; variants of it are "Phillida" and "Phyllida".

Phyllis, princess of Thrace, is a character in Greek mythology.

Phyllis may also refer to:

• Phyllis (river god), a river god of Bithynia
• Phyllis Township, a township in Ontario, Canada
• Phyllis Province, Greece
• Phyllis, Kentucky, U.S.
• Phyllis Lindstrom, a character on The Mary Tyler Moore Show
  • Phyllis (TV series), a 1970s TV spin-off featuring the character
• Phyllis (Passions), a minor character on Passions
• Phyllis, consort of Ereuthalion
• Phyllis, mother of the Trojan Alcaeus
• Phyllis, who rides on Aristotle's back in medieval legend, in some accounts the mistress of Alexander the Great.
• Phyllis (plant), a genus of plants in the Rubiaceae family

In Greek mythology, Phyllis was the god of the homonymous river in Bithynia. By a local meadow nymph, he became father of a son Dipsacus, who led a pastoral lifestyle by his father's river and was remembered for having been hospitable to Phrixus on the latter's way to Colchis.

Phyllis is a genus of plants in the Rubiaceae. There are two known species, both native to islands in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean.

• Phyllis nobla L. - Madeira, Canary Islands
• Phyllis viscosa Webb ex Christ - Canary Islands

The Phyllis (or Phillis) was a British transport noted for having shipwrecked near the Burin Peninsula on the south coast of Newfoundland, and for the subsequent survival under brutal conditions and rescue of many of its passengers and crew.

The Phyllis set sail from Gravesend, England, in August 1795 en route to Quebec with a detachment of soldiers and their families, under the command of Lt. (later General Sir) Howard Douglas.

The ship ran aground in October 1795 just off a rocky beach, but the seas were so rough that several attempts to make it ashore resulted in the death of the swimmers. During the first day and night following the wreck, all of the children and all but one of the women on board were swept from the deck by the waves and drowned. The next day, a raft was built with a rope was secured to the bow and taken ashore, and the survivors made it off the ship just before it sank. The lone remaining woman died the next morning. Some provisions washed ashore, but the sailors refused to follow the orders of their captain and attempted to horde them. Douglas managed to maintain control over his men, and they marched inland in an attempt to find a settlement, but after a few days had to return to the beach. Several days later, on the brink of starvation and freezing to death, the survivors were rescued by a small schooner and taken to the fishing village of Great Jervis, where they spent the winter.

Immediately upon arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia in April, 1796, Lt. Douglas was invited to dinner by Prince Edward, to whom he related the story of the shipwreck and rescue.