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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sphinx

Audio Help [sfingks] Pronunciation Key,

–noun, plural sphinx·es, sphin·ges

Audio Help [sfin-jeez] Pronunciation Key.

(in ancient Egypt)

a.	a figure of an imaginary creature having the head of a man or an animal and the body of a lion.

b.	(usually initial capital letter) the colossal recumbent stone figure of this kind near the pyramids of Giza.

(initial capital letter

) Classical Mythology. a monster, usually represented as having the head and breast of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. Seated on a rock outside of Thebes, she proposed a riddle to travelers, killing them when they answered incorrectly, as all did before Oedipus. When he answered her riddle correctly the Sphinx killed herself.

3.	any similar monster.

4.	a mysterious, inscrutable person or thing, esp. one given to enigmatic questions or answers.

[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME < L < Gk sphínx, equiv. to sphing-, base of sphíngein to hold tight (cf. sphincter) + -s nom. sing. ending

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
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Sphinx

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sphinx Audio Help (sfĭngks) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. sphinx·es or sphin·ges (sfĭn'jēz')

Mythology A figure in Egyptian myth having the body of a lion and the head of a man, ram, or hawk.
often Sphinx Greek Mythology A winged creature having the head of a woman and the body of a lion, noted for killing those who could not answer its riddle.
A puzzling or mysterious person.

[Middle English Spynx, from Latin Sphinx, from Greek.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
sphinx

c.1421, "monster of Gk. mythology," from L. Sphinx, from Gk. Sphinx, lit." the strangler," a back-formation from sphingein "to squeeze, bind" (see sphincter). Monster, having a lion's (winged) body and a woman's head, that waylaid travelers around Thebes and devoured those who could not answer its questions; Oedipus solved the riddle and the Sphinx killed herself. The proper plural would be sphinges. Transf. sense of "person or thing of mysterious nature" is from 1610. In the Egyptian sense (usually male and wingless) it is attested from 1579; specific reference to the colossal stone one near the pyramids as Giza is attested from 1613.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

sphinx
noun
1.	an inscrutable person who keeps his thoughts and intentions secret
2.	(Greek mythology) a riddling winged monster with a woman's head and breast on a lion's body; daughter of Typhon
3.	one of a number of large stone statues with the body of a lion and the head of a man that were built by the ancient Egyptians

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
Sphinx [(sfingks)]

In the story of Oedipus, a winged monster with the head of a woman and the body of a lion. It waylaid travelers on the roads near the city of Thebes and would kill any of them who could not answer this riddle: “What creatures walk on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?” Oedipus finally gave the correct answer: human beings, who go on all fours as infants, walk upright in maturity, and in old age rely on the “third leg” of a cane.

Note: The sphinx of Greek mythology resembles the sphinx of Egyptian mythology but is distinct from it (the Egyptian sphinx had a man's head). (See under “Fine Arts.”)

[Chapter:] Mythology and Folklore

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
Sphinx [(sfingks)]

A great sculpture carved from the rock near the Egyptian pyramids in about 2500 b.c. It depicts a creature from Egyptian mythology with the head of a man and the body of a lion. (See under “Mythology and Folklore.”)

[Chapter:] Fine Arts

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Sphinx

Hawk" moth`\ (?; 115). (Zo["o]l.) Any moth of the family Sphingid[ae], of which there are numerous genera and species. They are large, handsome moths, which fly mostly at twilight and hover about flowers like a humming bird, sucking the honey by means of a long, slender proboscis. The larv[ae] are large, hairless caterpillars ornamented with green and other bright colors, and often with a caudal spine. See Sphinx, also Tobacco worm, and Tomato worm. Tobacco Hawk Moth (Macrosila Carolina), and its Larva, the Tobacco Worm.

Note: The larv[ae] of several species of hawk moths feed on grapevines. The elm-tree hawk moth is Ceratomia Amyntor.

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