phoenix
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also Phoenix
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[edit] English
[edit] Alternative forms
[edit] Etymology
From Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνιξ (phoĩnix), from Egyptian bnw (boinu) ‘grey heron’. The grey heron was venerated at Heliopolis and associated in Egypt with the cyclical renewal of life because the bird rises in flight at dawn and migrates back every year in the flood season to inhabit the Nile waters.[1]
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
phoenix (plural phoenix or phoenixes)
- (mythology) A mythological bird, said to be the only one of its kind, which lives for 500 years and then dies by burning to ashes on a pyre of its own making, ignited by the sun. It then arises anew from the ashes.
- (figuratively) Anything that is reborn after apparently being destroyed. Usually used as a simile.
- Astronomers believe planets might form in this dead star's disk, like the mythical Phoenix rising up out of the ashes.
[edit] Translations
mythological bird
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anything reborn after apparently being destroyed
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
[edit] References
- ^ Maria Carmela Betrò, Hieroglyphics: The Writings of Ancient Egypt (Abbeville, 1996), 108.
[edit] Latin
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
phoenīx (genitive phoenīcis); f, third declension
- a phoenix
[edit] Inflection
| Number | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | phoenīx | phoenīcēs |
| genitive | phoenīcis | phoenīcium |
| dative | phoenīcī | phoenīcibus |
| accusative | phoenīcem | phoenīcēs 1 |
| ablative | phoenīce | phoenīcibus |
| vocative | phoenīx | phoenīcēs |
1 May also be phoenicīs.
[edit] Adjective
phoenīx m., f., n., (genitive phoenīcis); third declension
[edit] Inflection
| Number | Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case \ Gender | M.F. | N. | MM.FF. | NN. | |
| nominative | phoenīx | phoenīx | phoenīcēs | phoenīca | |
| genitive | phoenīcis | phoenīcis | phoenīcum | phoenīcum | |
| dative | phoenīcī | phoenīcī | phoenīcibus | phoenīcibus | |
| accusative | phoenīcem | phoenīx | phoenīcēs | phoenīca | |
| ablative | phoenīce | phoenīce | phoenīcibus | phoenīcibus | |
| vocative | phoenīx | phoenīx | phoenīcēs | phoenīca | |
[edit] Synonyms
- (Phoenician): phoenīcius