Sphinx
An ancient, large statue in Egypt, with the face of a man and the body of a lion, lying near the Great Pyramids.
Proper noun
- An ancient, large statue in Egypt, with the face of a man and the body of a lion, lying near the Great Pyramids.
Synonyms: the Great Sphinx the Great Sphinx of Giza
- One of the many offspring of Typhon and Echidna, a winged lion-like creature with a woman's face, who dwelt near the city of Thebes in Boeotia and terrorized travelers by posing riddles, killing those who failed to answer correctly; after Oedipus solved her riddle, she committed suicide out of frustration.
Synonyms: the Theban Sphinx the Thebean Sphinx the Sphinx of Thebes
Origin
From Middle English Spynx, from Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphínx), perhaps from σφίγγω (sphíngō, “bind tightly, to strangle”). The appurtenance of Egyptian Szp:p-A53 (šzp, “image, statue, sphinx”) or Szp:p-A53-anx-n:x (šzp-ꜥnḫ, “living image”) remains unclear.
Forms
Related
Derived
Noun
- Alternative letter-case form of sphinx (“a sculpture representing the Theban Sphinx”)
- In the third, which leadeth to the fonts and walkes, are two Sphinges very curiouſly carued in braſſe […] - 1776, Coryat’s Crudities, page 35: