phoenix

See also: Phoenix, Phönix, phœnix, and Phœnix

English

Phoenix

Stone bas-relief with phoenixes, Eastern Han dynasty, Tokyo National Museum

Phoenix (Greek coin)

Alternative forms

• phenix (archaic)
• phœnix (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old English and Old French fenix, from Medieval Latin phenix, from Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνιξ (phoînix), 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.

Pronunciation

• enPR: fē'nĭks, IPA^(key): /ˈfiːnɪks/
• Rhymes: -iːnɪks

Noun

phoenix (plural phoenix or phoenixes or phoenices)

1. (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.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 19:

     burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood

2. (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.

3. (Chinese mythology) A mythological Chinese chimerical bird whose physical body symbolizes the six celestial bodies.
4. (historical) A Greek silver coin used briefly from 1828 to 1832, divided into 100 lepta.

Translations

mythological bird

• Afrikaans: feniks (af), feniksvoël (af)
• Arabic: فِينِيكْس m (fīnīks), فُقْنُس m (fuqnus), عَنْقَاء f (ʕanqāʔ), فِينِيق (fīnīq)
• Armenian: փյունիկ (hy) (pʻyunik)
• Bulgarian: фе́никс m (féniks)
• Catalan: fènix m
• Cherokee: ᏧᎴᎯᏌᏅᎯ (tsulehisanvhi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鳳凰／凤凰 (zh) (fènghuáng), 凤凰 (zh) (fènghuáng)

• Danish: føniks c
• Dutch: feniks (nl) m
• Egyptian: (bnw)
• Esperanto: fenikso
• Faroese: føniks m
• Finnish: feeniks (fi)
• French: phénix (fr) m
• Galician: fénix (gl) f
• German: Phönix (de)
• Greek: φοίνικας (el) m (foínikas)

  Ancient: φοῖνιξ m (phoînix)

• Hebrew: עוֹף חוֹל (he) m ('of ḥol)
• Hindi: अमरपक्षी (amarpakṣī), अमर-पक्षी m (amar-pakṣī), ककनूँ m (kaknū̃), ककनू (hi) m (kaknū), हुमा (hi) m (humā)
• Hungarian: főnix (hu), főnixmadár
• Icelandic: fönix m
• Ido: fenixo (io)
• Italian: fenice (it) f
• Japanese: 不死鳥 (fushichō), 火の鳥 (hi no tori), 鳳凰 (ja) (ほうおう, hōō), フェニックス (fenikkusu)
• Korean: 불사조 (bulsajo), 불새 (bulsae)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lao: ນົກຟີນິກຊ໌ (nokfīnik)
• Latvian: fēnikss
• Lithuanian: feniksas m
• Lü: ᦷᦓᧅᦝᦲᦓᦲᧅ (nokfiiniik)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: føniks (no) m

  Nynorsk: føniks m

• Persian: ققنس (qaqnos), ققنوس (fa) (qoqnūs)
• Polish: feniks (pl) m anim
• Portuguese: fênix (pt) f (Brazil), fénix (pt) f (Portugal)
• Romanian: fenix (ro) m
• Russian: фе́никс (ru) m (féniks), жар-пти́ца (ru) f (žar-ptíca)
• Scottish Gaelic: ainneamhag f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фе́никс m, жа̑р-пти̏ца f

  Roman: féniks (sh) m, žȃr-ptȉca (sh) f

• Slovak: fénix (sk) m
• Slovene: feniks (sl) m
• Spanish: fénix (es) m
• Swedish: fenix (sv) c
• Tagalog: peniks
• Thai: นกฟีนิกซ์
• Turkish: anka (tr), zümrüdüanka (tr), simurg, tuğrul, konrul
• Urdu: ققنس m (qaqnus)
• Uyghur: سۇمۇرغ (sumurgh)
• Volapük: fönig (vo)
• Welsh: ffenics m
• Zhuang: funghvuengz

anything reborn after apparently being destroyed

• Afrikaans: feniks (af)
• Dutch: feniks (nl) m
• Greek: φοίνικας (el) m (foínikas)
• Japanese: 不死鳥 (ふしちょう, fushichō)
• Korean: 불사조 (bulsajo) (不死鳥 (ko))
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: føniks (no) m

  Nynorsk: føniks m

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: fênix (pt) f (Brazil), fénix (pt) f (Portugal)
• Russian: фе́никс (ru) m (féniks)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фе́никс m

  Roman: féniks (sh) m

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

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} phoenix
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} سیمرغ (fa) (simorğ)

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpʰoe̯.niːks/, [ˈpʰoe̯niːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfe.niks/, [ˈfɛːniks]

Noun

phoenīx f (genitive phoenīcis); third declension

1. phoenix

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	phoenīx	phoenīcēs
Genitive	phoenīcis	phoenīcium
Dative	phoenīcī	phoenīcibus
Accusative	phoenīcem	phoenīcēs phoenīcīs
Ablative	phoenīce	phoenīcibus
Vocative	phoenīx	phoenīcēs

Noun

phoenīx m (genitive phoenīcis); third declension

1. Phoenician

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	phoenīx	phoenīcēs
Genitive	phoenīcis	phoenīcum
Dative	phoenīcī	phoenīcibus
Accusative	phoenīcem	phoenīcēs
Ablative	phoenīce	phoenīcibus
Vocative	phoenīx	phoenīcēs

Adjective

phoenīx (genitive phoenīcis); third-declension one-termination adjective (non-i-stem)

1. Phoenician

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective (non-i-stem).

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	phoenīx			phoenīcēs	phoenīca
Genitive	phoenīcis			phoenīcum
Dative	phoenīcī			phoenīcibus
Accusative	phoenīcem	phoenīx		phoenīcēs	phoenīca
Ablative	phoenīce			phoenīcibus
Vocative	phoenīx			phoenīcēs	phoenīca

Synonyms

• (Phoenician): phoenīcius

Related terms

(Phoenician):

• Phoenīcia
• phoenīcius

References

(phoenix):

• “phoenix, īcis, m.”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “phoenīx īcis （acc. īca, O.), m”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “phoenix”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

(Phoenician):

• “Phoenix, īcis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Phoenīces, um, m. and sing. Phoenix s.v. Phoenīcē, ēs, f.”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press