Sphinx

See also: sphinx

Translingual

Sphinx ligustri

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphínx).

Proper noun

Sphinx f

1. A taxonomic genus within the family Sphingidae – many species of moths.

Hypernyms

• (genus): Eukaryota – superkingdom; Animalia – kingdom; Bilateria – subkingdom; Protostomia – infrakingdom; Ecdysozoa – superphylum; Arthropoda – phylum; Hexapoda – subphylum; Insecta – class; Pterygota – subclass; Neoptera – infraclass; Lepidoptera – order; Glossata – suborder; Heteroneura – infraorder; Ditrysia – division; Cossina – section; Bombycina – subsection; Bombycoidea – superfamily; Sphingidae – family; Sphinginae – subfamily

Hyponyms

• (genus): Sphinx ligustri – type species; for the many others see Sphinx on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

References

• Sphinx (moth) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Sphinx on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Sphinx (Sphingidae) on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

English

Alternative forms

• Sphynx (dated)

Etymology

From Middle English Spynx, from Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphínx), perhaps from σφίγγω (sphíngō, “bind tightly, to strangle”). The appurtenance of Egyptian

(šzp, “image, statue, sphinx”) or

(šzp-ꜥnḫ, “living image”) remains unclear.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsfɪŋks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋks

Proper noun

the Sphinx

2. An ancient, large statue in Egypt, with the face of a man and the body of a lion, lying near the Great Pyramids.

   Synonyms: the Great Sphinx, the Great Sphinx of Giza

4. (Greek mythology) One of the many offspring of Typhon and Echidna, a winged lion-like creature with a woman's face, who dwelt near the city of Thebes in Boeotia and terrorized travelers by posing riddles, killing those who failed to answer correctly; after Oedipus solved her riddle, she committed suicide out of frustration.

   Synonyms: the Theban Sphinx, the Thebean Sphinx, the Sphinx of Thebes

Derived terms

• sphinx

Related terms

• Sphingian
• Sphingine

Translations

large monument in Egypt

• Arabic: أَبُو الْهَوْل m (ʔabū l-hawl)
• Armenian: Սֆինքս (Sfinkʻs)
• Belarusian: Сфінкс m (Sfinks)
• Bulgarian: Сфинкс m (Sfinks)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 斯芬克斯 (zh) (Sīfēnkèsī)

• Danish: Sfinksen
• Dutch: Sfinx
• Estonian: Sfinks
• Finnish: Sfinksi
• French: Sphinx (fr) m

  Middle French: Sphinge f

• Georgian: სფინქსი (spinksi)
• German: Sphinx (de) f
• Greek: Σφίγγα (el) f (Sfínga)
• Hebrew: סְפִינְקְס (he) m (sfinks)
• Hindi: गूढ़ व्यक्ति m (gūṛh vyakti)
• Hungarian: Szphinx (hu)
• Italian: Sfinge f
• Japanese: スフィンクス (Sufinkusu)
• Korean: 스핑크스 (ko) (Seupingkeuseu)
• Latvian: Sfinksa f
• Lithuanian: Sfinksas m
• Macedonian: Сфинга f (Sfinga)
• Maltese: Sfinġa f
• Marathi: स्फिंक्स m (sphiṅksa)
• Norwegian: Sfinksen
• Persian: ابوالهول (fa) (abo-l-howl)
• Polish: Sfinks (pl) m
• Portuguese: Esfinge f
• Russian: Сфинкс m (Sfinks)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Сфи̏нга f

  Latin: Sfȉnga (sh) f

• Slovene: Sfinga f
• Spanish: Esfinge f
• Swedish: Sfinxen
• Tajik: Абулҳавл (Abulhavl)
• Thai: สฟิงซ์ (sà-fíng)
• Ukrainian: Сфінкс m (Sfinks)
• Urdu: ابوالہول (ur) m
• Vietnamese: Nhân sư

Greek mythological creature

• Danish: sfinks
• Dutch: Sfinx
• Finnish: Sfinksi
• French: Sphinge f

  Middle French: Sphinge f

• Greek: Σφίγγα (el) f (Sfínga)

  Ancient Greek: Σφίγξ f (Sphínx)

• Italian: Sfinge f
• Japanese: スフィンクス (Sufinkusu)
• Latin: Sphinx f
• Marathi: स्फिंक्स (sphiṅksa)
• Norwegian: sfinks m
• Polish: Sfinks (pl) m
• Portuguese: Esfinge f
• Russian: Сфинкс m (Sfinks)
• Spanish: Esfinge f
• Swedish: Sfinx c
• Thai: สฟิงซ์ (sà-fíng)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German:

  Alemannic German: ^{(please verify)} Sphinx

• Luxembourgish: ^{(please verify)} Sphinx

Noun

Sphinx (plural Sphinxes or Sphinges)

1. Alternative letter-case form of sphinx (“a sculpture representing the Theban Sphinx”)
   • 1776, Coryat’s Crudities, page 35:

     In the third, which leadeth to the fonts and walkes, are two Sphinges very curiouſly carued in braſſe […]

Translations

sphinx — see sphinx

German

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Σφῐ́γξ (Sphĭ́nx).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sfɪŋ(k)s/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

Sphinx f (genitive Sphinx, plural Sphinxe) or
Sphinx (sometimes in scientific usage with male beings/statues) m (strong, genitive Sphinx or Sphinxes, plural Sphinxe or Sphingen)

1. sphinx

Usage notes

• Generally speaking, the word is feminine like its Greek etymon. The masculine is sometimes used in scientific usage when the being or statue in question is male. Since this is the case of the Sphinx of Giza, a hypercorrect belief that the masculine is generally more appropriate may exist in some semi-educated speakers.

Declension

Declension of Sphinx [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Sphinx	die	Sphinxe
genitive	einer	der	Sphinx	der	Sphinxe
dative	einer	der	Sphinx	den	Sphinxen
accusative	eine	die	Sphinx	die	Sphinxe

Declension of Sphinx [masculine (sometimes in scientific usage with male beings/statues), strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Sphinx	die	Sphinxe, Sphingen
genitive	eines	des	Sphinx, Sphinxes	der	Sphinxe, Sphingen
dative	einem	dem	Sphinx, Sphinxe1	den	Sphinxen, Sphingen
accusative	einen	den	Sphinx	die	Sphinxe, Sphingen

¹Now rare, see notes.

Latin

Alternative forms

• Sphinga (Medieval Latin)

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphínx).

Noun

Sphinx f (genitive Sphingis); third declension

1. Sphinx

Declension

Third-declension noun (non-Greek-type or Greek-type, normal variant).

	singular	plural
nominative	Sphinx	Sphingēs Sphinges
genitive	Sphingis Sphingos	Sphingum
dative	Sphingī	Sphingibus
accusative	Sphingem Sphinga	Sphingēs Sphingas
ablative	Sphinge	Sphingibus
vocative	Sphinx	Sphingēs Sphinges

Descendants

• → English: Sphinx
• → French: (unadapted borrowing) Sphinx
• Italian: Sfinge
• Middle French: Sphinge
  • French: Sphinge
• Portuguese: Esfinge
• Spanish: Esfinge

References

• “Sphinx”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Sphinx”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.