a. [f. Gr. χθόνι-ος of, in or beneath the earth (f. χθών, χθον-ός, earth) + -AN. Cf. F. chthonien.] Dwelling in or beneath the surface of the earth.

1

1850.  Leitch, Müller’s Anc. Art, 481. Hermes stood in the cycle of the Chthonian gods, the powers that send up fruits and bounteous blessing from below.

2

1887.  Lang, Myth, Ritual & Relig., II. 95.

3

1888.  Rhys, Hibbert Lect., 131. Pluto … was always … a chthonian or catachthonian Zeus.

4

  So Chthonic a.

5

1885.  Max Müller, in 19th Cent., Dec., 920. The original chthonic character of the wife of Zeus.

6