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Webster 1913 Edition

Sphinx

Sphinx

,
Noun.
[L., from Gr.
σφίγξ
, usually derived from
σφίγγειν
to bind tight or together, as if the Throttler.]
1.
(a)
In Egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion.
The awful ruins of the days of old . . .
Or jasper tomb, or mutilated
sphinx
.
Shelley.
(b)
On Greek art and mythology, a she-monster, usually represented as having the winged body of a lion, and the face and breast of a young woman.
The most famous Grecian sphinx, that of Thebes in Bœotia, is said to have proposed a riddle to the Thebans, and killed those who were unable to guess it. The enigma was solved by Œdipus, whereupon the sphinx slew herself.
“Subtle as sphinx.”
Shak.
2.
Hence: A person of enigmatical character and purposes, especially in politics and diplomacy.
3.
(Zool.)
Any one of numerous species of large moths of the family
Sphingidae
; – called also
hawk moth
. See also
tomato worm
.
☞ The larva is a stout naked caterpillar which, when at rest, often assumes a position suggesting the Egyptian sphinx, whence the name.
4.
(Zool.)
The Guinea, or sphinx, baboon (
Cynocephalus sphinx
).
Sphinx baboon
(Zool.)
,
a large West African baboon (
Cynocephalus sphinx
), often kept in menageries.
–
Sphinx moth
.
(Zool.)
Same as
Sphinx
, 3.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sphinx

SPHINX

,
Noun.
[L. sphinx.]
1.
A famous monster in Egypt, having the body of a lion and the face of a young woman.
2.
In entomology, the hawk-moth, a genus of insects.

Definition 2024

Sphinx

Sphinx

See also: sphinx

Translingual

Sphinx ligustri

Proper noun

Sphinx f

  1. A taxonomic genus within the family Sphingidae – many species of moths.

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

English

Proper noun

Sphinx

  1. (usually with "the") An ancient, large statue in Egypt, with the face of a man and the body of a lion, lying near the Great Pyramids.
  2. (Greek mythology) One of the many offspring of Typhon and Echidna, a winged lion-like creature with a woman's face, who commited suicide out of frustration after Oedipus managed to solve her riddles.

Synonyms

  • (definite: large statue in Egypt): The Great Sphinx, The Great Sphinx of Giza

Derived terms

Translations

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sfɪŋks/

Noun

Sphinx f, m ‎(genitive Sphinx, plural Sphinxe or Sphingen)

  1. Sphinx

Declension

The feminine declension:

The masculine declension:

Latin

Noun

Sphinx f ‎(genitive Sphingis); third declension

  1. Sphinx

Declension

Third declension.

Case Singular Plural
nominative Sphinx Sphingēs
genitive Sphingis Sphingum
dative Sphingī Sphingibus
accusative Sphingem Sphingēs
ablative Sphinge Sphingibus
vocative Sphinx Sphingēs

References

sphinx

sphinx

See also: Sphinx

English

Noun

sphinx ‎(plural sphinxes or sphinges)

  1. (mythology) A creature with the head of a person and the body of an animal (commonly a lion).
    • Shelley
      Sculptured on alabaster obelisk, / Or jasper tomb, or mutilated sphinx […]
  2. A person who keeps his/her thoughts and intentions secret; an enigmatic person.
  3. Cynocephalus sphinx, a kind of baboon.
  4. A sphinx moth.
  5. (rare) A sphincter.
    • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), page 836:
      Constance said boastfully, ‘My sphinxes are strong and in good repair. I order you to come.’

Synonyms

  • (person who keeps his/her thoughts and intentions secret): enigma

Derived terms

Hyponyms

Translations

mythology: creature with the head of a person and the body of an animal

See also

Verb

sphinx ‎(third-person singular simple present sphinxes, present participle sphinxing, simple past and past participle sphinxed)

  1. To decorate with sphinxes
    a marble sphinxed chimney-piece
  2. To adopt the posture of the Sphinx.
    A hot lion with a very bloated stomach ... will adopt either a sphinxed or a squatting posture which takes some of the weight off its belly.
    Several animals maintained either a crouched ... or a sphinxing posture (abdomen on the floor)
  3. To be inscrutable, often through silence
    (1900) The sphinxèd riddle of the Universe / Nature's unsolved enigma, who may prove?
    (1933) Janet Gaynor, so they tell, is sphinxing it and has gone into a Retirement, with "Nothing to Say — Please Go Away" written on the doormat.
    (1934) The men of science will climb grassy hillsides of [Easter] island to peer at hundreds of great stone faces that have so far out-sphinxed the sphinx in determined silence about the past.
    (1954) "What are you two sphinxing about?" said Jessica, but her husband said Never mind
    (1964) What with Fisher whole-hogging on one side, and K. of K. sphinxing on the other, Churchill had his work cut out to get any sort of agreement at all.
  4. To make one guess at the unknowable
    (1933) Perhaps Nature is sphinxing us on purpose. Whatever her objects may be, perhaps she gets her work done better when she appeals to our gambling instincts. If you knew for certain exactly how your marriage was going to turn out ...
  5. To befuddle
    (2010) She swiveled and sphinxed Giles. 'And you, I suppose you've never been here either?' Giles squirmed. 'Well, I – that is, Miss Wh—, I mean, Miss Taylor, I –' He looked to me for rescue.
  6. For the feminine to co-opt, dominate, or devour the masculine, especially from a paranoid fear of this happening
    (1986) modernism's fears of being sphinxed by a feminized mass culture

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sphinx.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sfɛ̃ks/

Noun

sphinx m ‎(plural sphinx)

  1. sphinx

Latin

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA(key): /spʰinks/, [spʰɪŋks]

Noun

sphinx f ‎(genitive sphingis); third declension

  1. sphinx

Inflection

Third declension.

Case Singular Plural
nominative sphinx sphingēs
genitive sphingis sphingum
dative sphingī sphingibus
accusative sphingem sphingēs
ablative sphinge sphingibus
vocative sphinx sphingēs

References

  • SPHINX in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
  • sphinx in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia
  • sphinx in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • sphinx in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Σφίγξ ‎(Sphínx), perhaps from σφίγγω ‎(sphíngō, “bind tightly, to strangle”). The appurtenance of Egyptian

E151 Z1

sspw ‎(“sphinx”),

O42 Q3 G43 E151

Sspw ‎(“Sphinx”) is unclear.

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