Latin

Alternative forms

• Sȳringa

Proper noun

Sȳrinx f ‎(genitive Sȳringos); third declension

1. an Arcadian nymph, changed into a reed
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Ovid to this entry?)

Declension

Third declension, Greek type.

References

• Sȳrinx in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “2 Sȳrinx”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette, page 1,535/1.
• “Sȳrinx” on page 1,896/3 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

English

A schematic drawing of a syrinx (bird voice organ)

Noun

syrinx ‎(plural syrinxes or syringes)

1. A set of panpipes.
   • 1982, John Fowles, Mantissa:

     Actually, to cut a long story short, he began...well, playing with a rather different sort of pipe. Or syrinx, as we called it. He obviously thought he was alone.

   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 247:

     Inside, somebody was playing a duet on syrinx and lyre.

2. A narrow channel cut in rock, especially in ancient Egyptian tombs.
3. (ornithology) The voice organ in birds.
   • 1999, Irene M. Pepperberg, The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots, 2002, page 293,

     The role of the syrinx in psittacine sound production is still under examination, and probably differs from that of songbirds.

   • 2007, Gisela Kaplan, Tawny Frogmouth, page 121,

     The primary sound-producing organ in a bird is the syrinx and the secondary system aiding sound production consists of the larynx, mouth, tongue and laryngeal muscles.

   • 2010, Peter Simmons, David Young, Nerve Cells and Animal Behaviour, 3rd Edition, page 247,

     The organ responsible for producing sounds during song is the syrinx, located where the trachea joins the bronchi of the two lungs (Fig. 9.14).

4. (medicine) A rare, fluid-filled neuroglial cavity within the spinal cord or in the brain stem

Related terms

• syringomyelia
• syringobulbia

Translations

Finnish

Etymology

From Latin sȳrinx, from Ancient Greek σῦριγξ ‎(sûrinx, “pipe, tube, channel, fistula”).

Noun

syrinx

1. (rare) Alternative spelling of syrinks

Declension

Latin

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek σῦρῐγξ ‎(sûrinx).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsyː.rinks/, [ˈsyː.rɪŋks]
• Homophone: Sȳrinx

Noun

sȳrinx f ‎(genitive sȳringos); third declension

1. reed, reed flute, reed pipe, pan flute, panpipe

Declension

Third declension, Greek type.

Related terms

References

• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “1 sȳrinx”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette, page 1,535/1.
• syrinx in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• syrinx in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• syrinx in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin