sphinx

== English == === Alternative forms === sphynx (dated) spynx, phynx (obsolete) === Etymology === === Pronunciation === enPR: sfĭngks, IPA(key): /ˈsfɪŋks/ Rhymes: -ɪŋks === Noun === sphinx (plural sphinxes or sphinges) (mythology) A creature with the head of a person and the body of an animal, commonly a lion. (figurative) A person who keeps their thoughts and intentions secret; an enigmatic or impassive person. Synonym: enigma (dated) A mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx), formerly classified as a baboon, and called sphinx baboon. A sphinx moth. (euphemistic, rare) A sphincter. ==== Hyponyms ==== ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== chimera === Verb === sphinx (third-person singular simple present sphinxes, present participle sphinxing, simple past and past participle sphinxed) (transitive) To decorate with sphinxes. (transitive, intransitive) To adopt the posture of the Sphinx. (transitive, intransitive) To be inscrutable, often through silence. (intransitive) To behave in a manner characteristic of the Sphinx. === Further reading === James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Sphinx”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume IX, Part 1 (Si–St), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, pages 587–588. == French == === Alternative forms === sphinge f === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from Latin sphinx f, from Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphínx). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /sfɛ̃ks/ === Noun === sphinx m or f (invariable) (Egyptian mythology, Greek mythology) sphinx ==== Usage notes ==== Typically masculine, but historically (and still occasionally) feminine, in accordance with its etymology, and especially in reference to the Greek sphinx, which was a female monster, e.g.: Compare the adapted borrowing sphinge f (cognate with Italian sfinge, Portuguese esfinge, Spanish esfinge). === Further reading === Littré, Émile (1873–1878), “sphinx”, in Dictionnaire de la langue française, Paris: L. Hachette “sphinx”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 == Latin == === Alternative forms === sphinga (Medieval Latin) === Etymology === === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈspʰɪŋks] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈsfiŋks] === Noun === sphinx f (genitive sphingis); third declension (mythology) sphinx ==== Declension ==== Third-declension noun (non-Greek-type or Greek-type, normal variant). ==== Descendants ==== → English: sphinx French: sphinge, → (unadapted borrowing) sphinx Italian: sfinge Portuguese: esfinge Spanish: esfinge === References === "sphinx", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887) “sphinx”, in The Perseus Project (1999), Perseus Encyclopedia‎[3] “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 and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray