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hippogriff

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hip⋅po⋅griff

  [hip-uh-grif]
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–noun
a fabulous creature resembling a griffin but having the body and hind parts of a horse.
Also, hip⋅po⋅gryph.

Origin:
1645–55; earlier hippogryph, Latinized < It ippogrifo. See hippo-, griffin 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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hip·po·griff also hip·po·gryph   (hĭp'ə-grĭf')   
n.   Mythology
A monster having the wings, claws, and head of a griffin and the body and hindquarters of a horse.

[French hippogriffe, from Italian ippogrifo : Greek hippos, horse; see ekwo- in Indo-European roots + Italian grifo, griffin (from Latin grȳphus; see griffin).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

hippogriff 
1656, from Fr. hippogriffe (16c.), from It. ippogrifo, from Gk. hippos "horse" + It. grifo, from L.L. gryphus "griffin" (see griffin). A creature part griffin, but with body and hind parts in the form of a horse.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

hippogriff

a legendary animal that has the foreparts of a winged griffin and the body and hindquarters of a horse. The creature was invented by Ludovico Ariosto in his Orlando furioso and was based on a proverbial phrase about crossing a griffin with a horse that was used to signify an impossibility or incongruity.

Learn more about hippogriff with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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