Sphinxn.

Brit.

/sfɪŋks/, U.S.

/sfɪŋks/

Forms: Plural sphinges

/ˈsfɪndʒiːz/, sphinxes. Also Middle English spynx, 1600s–1700s (1800s) sphynx.

Etymology: < Latin Sphinx, < Greek Σϕίγξ (stem Σϕιγγ-), apparently < σϕίγγειν to draw tight. So French sphinx, Italian sfinge, Spanish esfinge, Portuguese esfinge.

In generalized senses usually with small initial; otherwise with capital S.

a. Greek Mythology. A hybrid monster, usually described as having the head of a woman and the (winged) body of a lion, which infested Thebes until the riddle it propounded was solved by Œdipus; also, any monster of a similar form and character.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [noun] > of classical mythology > Sphinx

Sphinx1420

androsphinx1607

phynx1688

1420–2 J. Lydgate Story of Thebes i. 624 And as I rede, Spynx this monstre hight.

1420–2 J. Lydgate Story of Thebes ii. 2158 At thylke mount wher that Spynx was slawe.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. H2^v What that before tyme was, I thinke scarcely Sphinx can tell.

1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 318 Subtit [sic] as Sphinx, as sweete and musicall, As bright Appolos Lute.

1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 131 The vpper part of a Sphinx resembled a maide, and the lower a Lion.

a1649 W. Drummond Poems (1656) 169 Geryons, Harpyes, Dragons, Sphinges strange, Wheele, where in spacious gires the Fume doth range.

1729 B. Mandeville Fable Bees ii. v. 266 Do you lay any Stress upon Sphinxes, Basilisks, flying Dragons, and Bulls that spit Fire?

1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. II. 466 Several relievo's of plaster, representing a sphynx, a griffin, and other imaginary animals.

1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 36 Thou Sphinx, subtlest of fiends Who ministered to Thebes..unnatural love, and more unnatural hate.

1883 Fortn. Rev. Feb. 193 The sphinx had an awkward habit of swallowing up those who could not guess her riddles.

b. transferred. A person characterized by some quality of the Sphinx; esp. one who propounds or presents a difficult question or problem.

ΚΠ

1605 B. Jonson Sejanus iii. i. 65 I am not Oedipus inough, To vnderstand this Sphynx .

1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xii. 566/2 The Sphynx who is said to be the Author of this ambiguous Riddle,..was Adam de Torleton.

1808 Sporting Mag. 30 209 A lady named Gibson, one of the sphynxes of Fleet-market.

1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago III. ix. 283 He was a sphinx, a chimera, a lunatic broke loose, who took unintelligible delight in getting wet, and dirty.

1884 Bath Herald 25 Oct. 3/2 Mr. Dodson has for many years been a political sphinx.

c. figurative. A thing or subject of a mysterious or inscrutable nature.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [noun]

rounOE

mysteryc1384

sacramentc1384

secrec1386

secret1390

riddlec1400

concealment1598

arcanum1605

Sphinxa1610

abstrusity1632

cryptic1663

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [noun] > person

Sphinxa1610

riddle1663

question mark1870

a1610 J. Healey tr. Cebes' Table in tr. Epictetus Manuall (1636) 110 For ignorance is a Sphynx unto man.

1678 Young Man's Calling 46 It is the philosophers sphinx, which however it may seem to propound toyes, yet devoureth all (as that did) who fall unwisely into its imbraces.

1856 R. A. Vaughan Hours with Mystics (1860) I. 13 History fairly questioned is no Sphinx.

a. A sculptured, carved, or moulded figure of an imaginary creature having a human head and breast combined with the body of a lion.The Egyptian sphinxes usually exhibit male heads and wingless bodies; in the usual Greek type the head is female and the body winged.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [noun] > of classical mythology > Sphinx > figure of

Sphinx1579

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > statuary > [noun] > statue > other subjects

Sphinx1579

Hercules1638

weeper1656

ophioucha1697

pastorality1821

sheela-na-gig1844

orans1900

kouros1920

three wise monkeys1926

gnome1938

α.

1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 916 He had a Sphinx of Yuory geuen him by Verres.

1738 Ld. Chesterfield in Common Sense 4 Mar. (1739) 33 A Sphynx of curious Workmanship and of inestimable Value.

1789 H. L. Piozzi Observ. Journey France I. 405 There is a sphinx upon it..mighty clearly expressed.

1865 D. Livingstone & C. Livingstone Narr. Exped. Zambesi iv. 97 The southern end of the range rises in the form of an unfinished sphinx.

1877 A. B. Edwards Thousand Miles up Nile Pref. p. xv The stone lips of a colossal Sphinx, buried to the neck in sand.

β. 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1290 Setting up ordinarily before the..gates of their temples, certaine Sphinges.1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iv. 315 With which agreeth also the Testimony of Plutarch, he adding a further Confirmation thereof from the Egyptian Sphinges.1863 Ld. Lytton Ring of Amasis II. 32 The beautiful serious sphinges, with their smooth lion-limbs, and serene human faces.1877 Times 17 Feb. 4/5 There are handles ornamented with bull's heads, winged sphinges [etc.].γ. 1647 J. Cleveland Poems in Char. London-diurnall (Wing C4662) 34 As Temples use to have their Porches wrought With Sphynxes, creatures of an antick draught.1766 H. Walpole Lett. (1857) IV. 492 Two sphynxes in stone, with their heads coquetly reclined.1814 B. Heyne Tracts on India 336 In the Conjeveram pagoda there are pillars resting on sphynxes.1888 F. Hume Madame Midas i. iii. 28 The motionless calm which the old Egyptians gave to their sphinxes.

b. spec. The colossal stone image of this kind near the pyramids of El-Gizeh in Egypt.

ΚΠ

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage I. vi. i. 467 Not farre hence is that Sphynx, a huge Colosse, with the head of a Maid, and bodie of a Lion.

1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. ii. v. 134 It is said, that this Sphynx, so soon as the Sun was up, gave responses to any thing it was consulted about.

1797 Encycl. Brit. XV. 681/2 The great sphynx was in his [Pliny's] time upwards of 62 feet above the surface of the ground.

1820 J. Keats Hyperion: a Fragm. i, in Lamia & Other Poems 147 Her face was large as that of Memphian sphinx.

1869 G. Rawlinson Man. Anc. Hist. 68 Thothmes IV, who cut the great sphinx near the Pyramids.

1879 W. J. Loftie Ride in Egypt 162 To some the Sphinx is part of the great ‘Time-passage’ theory.

3. A kind of ape; in modern use, a sphinx-baboon.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > order Primates > suborder Anthropoidea (higher primates) > [noun] > group Catarrhinae (Old World monkey) > family Cercopithecidae > genus Papio (baboon) > Papio hamadryas (hamadryas baboon)

Sphinx1607

sphinx-baboon1871

hamadryad1894

hamadryas baboon1932

the world > animals > mammals > order Primates > suborder Anthropoidea (higher primates) > [noun] > group Catarrhinae (Old World monkey) > member of superfamily Hominoidea (apes and humans) > family Pongidae (ape) > unspecified type of

satyra1398

Sphinx1607

soko1870

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 17 The Sphinx or Sphinga is of the kinde of Apes... In the promontory of the farthest Arabia neere Dira, are Sphinges and..Lyons.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage I. vi. i. 466 Other Apes there are store,..Satyres with feet like Goats, and Sphynges, with breasts like women and hairie.

1871 Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 148 This excited the indignation of the Sphinx, who trotted off to the further end of his cage.

4. An insect belonging to the lepidopterous genus Sphinx or to the family represented by this, so called from the attitude frequently assumed by the caterpillar.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Sphingidae > member of (sphinx moth)

Sphinx1753

hawkmoth1785

sphinx moth1839

sphingid1912

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Sphinx,..a name given by Mr. Reaumur to a very singular species of caterpillar.

1802 W. Forsyth Treat. Fruit-trees xxviii. 273 The sphinges appear either early in the morning, or after sunset.

1816 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) II. xxiii. 369 The most remarkable insects in this respect are the sphinxes, and from this they doubtless took their name of hawk-moths.

1869 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1868 310 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (40th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc.) XV This order [sc. Lepidoptera] has been divided into three groups, called..butterflies, sphinges, and moths.

1882 Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 25 The larvæ of many Sphinges, etc., construct a cell in the ground.

Compounds

C1. attributive, as sphinx-enigma, sphinx-face, sphinx-figure, sphinx-form, sphinx-look, sphinx-question, sphinx-riddle.

ΚΠ

1832 G. Long Egypt. Antiq. I. x. 218 So great is the variety of forms in which sphinx-figures occur.

1832 G. Long Egypt. Antiq. I. x. 225 Some light on the origin of the sphinx-form.

1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. vi. i. 302 What Sphinx-questions; which the distracted world,..must answer or die.

1862 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia III. xiii. i. 402 One must act, and act at once; but it is a perfect sphinx-enigma to say How.

1886 W. Graham Social Probl. 41 The veritable sphinx-riddle which not to solve is to be destroyed.

1900 Cent. Mag. Feb. 510/2 You still might see..the sphinx face of the old West, smiling, mysterious, alluring.

1923 D. H. Lawrence Ladybird: Fox: Captain's Doll 230 The queer, blank, sphinx-look with which he gazed out beyond himself.

C2.

sphinx-faced adj.

ΚΠ

1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. vii. 69 I have..heard that the close approach to land of these sphinx-faced monsters [sc. walrus] portends a storm.

sphinx-guarded adj.

ΚΠ

1857 J. Hamilton Lessons from Great Biogr. 88 The Pharaohs sleep grandly in their sphinx-guarded sepulchres.

sphinx-lined adj.

ΚΠ

1859 J. H. Ingraham Pillar of Fire iii. viii. 517 [Pharaoh] proceeded..along the sphinx-lined avenue to the terrace of the Nile.

C3.

sphinx-baboon n. the Guinea Baboon ( Cynocephalus or Papio sphinx).

ΘΚΠ

Sphinx1607

sphinx-baboon1871

hamadryad1894

hamadryas baboon1932

1871 Cassell's Nat. Hist. 149 The Sphinx Baboon..is commonly seen in menageries, and stuffed in museums.

sphinx moth n. = sense 4.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Sphingidae > member of (sphinx moth)

Sphinx1753

hawkmoth1785

sphinx moth1839

sphingid1912

1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. ii. 37 Whenever I saw these little creatures..I was reminded of the sphinx moths.

1939 C. D. Duncan & G. B. Pickwell World of Insects x. 168 The caterpillars of the family of sphinx moths..have earned their name of ‘sphinx’ by their habit of rearing up their front ends, drawing in their heads, and thus assuming a threatening attitude.

1972 Sci. Amer. June 73/1 The larger sphinx moths weigh from two to six grams.

Derivatives

ˈsphinxian adj. of or pertaining to the Sphinx; sphinx-like.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [adjective] > of or resembling a Sphinx

sphinxian1598

sphingian1620

sphingal1851

1598 J. Marston Certaine Satyres in Metamorph. Pigmalions Image 39 And in such pitchy clouds enwrapped beene His Sphinxian ridles, that old Oedipus Would be amaz'd.

1746 Brit. Mag. Apr. 53 Like the Monster represented in the Sphinxian Riddle.

1889 Jrnl. Educ. Nov. 575/1 The Œdipus to this sphinxian enigma seems unlikely to make his appearance.

ˈsphinxily adv. in a sphinx-like manner.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [adverb]

dighenlichec893

diȝelichec1200

darklyc1350

mysteriously1486

mystically1509

in (a) mystery1526

abstrusely1611

cryptically1663

oracularly1771

occultly1793

pokerishly1854

mystifically1880

sophically1888

sphinxily1889

mystifyingly1937

1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 25 Nov. 4 Mr. Marston smiled sphinxily.

ˈsphinxine adj. characteristic of the Sphinx; enigmatical, mysterious.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [adjective]

secrec1386

mystica1398

mystical1516

dark1532

arcane1547

occulta1549

shadowish1561

abstruse1576

cryptical1588

shrouded (also involved, wrapped) in mysterya1616

mysterious1622

mysterial1630

cryptica1638

researched1653

rarefied1662

arcanalc1828

sphinx-like1837

sphinxine1845

abstrusive1848

Sphingine1925

1845 E. B. Barrett Let. 2 May in Lett. R. Browning & E. B. Barrett (1899) I. 53 People say of you and of me..that we love the darkness and use a sphinxine idiom in our talk.

1845 E. B. Barrett Lett. (1897) I. 254 The sin of Sphinxine literature I admit. Have I not struggled hard to renounce it?

ˈsphinxineness n. sphinx-like obscurity.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [noun] > mysterious state or quality

mysticalness1608

mysterya1616

abstruseness1628

mysteriousness1633

abstrusity1649

mysticity1761

mysticality1834

sphinxineness1845

1845 E. B. Barrett Lett. (1897) I. 254 Tell me honestly..if anything like the Sphinxineness of Browning, you discover in me.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	sphinx
释义	Sphinxn. Brit. /sfɪŋks/, U.S. /sfɪŋks/ Forms: Plural sphinges /ˈsfɪndʒiːz/, sphinxes. Also Middle English spynx, 1600s–1700s (1800s) sphynx. Etymology: < Latin Sphinx, < Greek Σϕίγξ (stem Σϕιγγ-), apparently < σϕίγγειν to draw tight. So French sphinx, Italian sfinge, Spanish esfinge, Portuguese esfinge. In generalized senses usually with small initial; otherwise with capital S. 1. a. Greek Mythology. A hybrid monster, usually described as having the head of a woman and the (winged) body of a lion, which infested Thebes until the riddle it propounded was solved by Œdipus; also, any monster of a similar form and character. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [noun] > of classical mythology > Sphinx Sphinx1420 androsphinx1607 phynx1688 1420–2 J. Lydgate Story of Thebes i. 624 And as I rede, Spynx this monstre hight. 1420–2 J. Lydgate Story of Thebes ii. 2158 At thylke mount wher that Spynx was slawe. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. H2^v What that before tyme was, I thinke scarcely Sphinx can tell. 1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 318 Subtit [sic] as Sphinx, as sweete and musicall, As bright Appolos Lute. 1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 131 The vpper part of a Sphinx resembled a maide, and the lower a Lion. a1649 W. Drummond Poems (1656) 169 Geryons, Harpyes, Dragons, Sphinges strange, Wheele, where in spacious gires the Fume doth range. 1729 B. Mandeville Fable Bees ii. v. 266 Do you lay any Stress upon Sphinxes, Basilisks, flying Dragons, and Bulls that spit Fire? 1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. II. 466 Several relievo's of plaster, representing a sphynx, a griffin, and other imaginary animals. 1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 36 Thou Sphinx, subtlest of fiends Who ministered to Thebes..unnatural love, and more unnatural hate. 1883 Fortn. Rev. Feb. 193 The sphinx had an awkward habit of swallowing up those who could not guess her riddles. b. transferred. A person characterized by some quality of the Sphinx; esp. one who propounds or presents a difficult question or problem. ΚΠ 1605 B. Jonson Sejanus iii. i. 65 I am not Oedipus inough, To vnderstand this Sphynx . View more context for this quotation 1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xii. 566/2 The Sphynx who is said to be the Author of this ambiguous Riddle,..was Adam de Torleton. 1808 Sporting Mag. 30 209 A lady named Gibson, one of the sphynxes of Fleet-market. 1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago III. ix. 283 He was a sphinx, a chimera, a lunatic broke loose, who took unintelligible delight in getting wet, and dirty. 1884 Bath Herald 25 Oct. 3/2 Mr. Dodson has for many years been a political sphinx. c. figurative. A thing or subject of a mysterious or inscrutable nature. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [noun] rounOE mysteryc1384 sacramentc1384 secrec1386 secret1390 riddlec1400 concealment1598 arcanum1605 Sphinxa1610 abstrusity1632 cryptic1663 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [noun] > person Sphinxa1610 riddle1663 question mark1870 a1610 J. Healey tr. Cebes' Table in tr. Epictetus Manuall (1636) 110 For ignorance is a Sphynx unto man. 1678 Young Man's Calling 46 It is the philosophers sphinx, which however it may seem to propound toyes, yet devoureth all (as that did) who fall unwisely into its imbraces. 1856 R. A. Vaughan Hours with Mystics (1860) I. 13 History fairly questioned is no Sphinx. 2. a. A sculptured, carved, or moulded figure of an imaginary creature having a human head and breast combined with the body of a lion.The Egyptian sphinxes usually exhibit male heads and wingless bodies; in the usual Greek type the head is female and the body winged. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [noun] > of classical mythology > Sphinx > figure of Sphinx1579 society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > statuary > [noun] > statue > other subjects Sphinx1579 Hercules1638 weeper1656 ophioucha1697 pastorality1821 sheela-na-gig1844 orans1900 kouros1920 three wise monkeys1926 gnome1938 α. 1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 916 He had a Sphinx of Yuory geuen him by Verres. 1738 Ld. Chesterfield in Common Sense 4 Mar. (1739) 33 A Sphynx of curious Workmanship and of inestimable Value. 1789 H. L. Piozzi Observ. Journey France I. 405 There is a sphinx upon it..mighty clearly expressed. 1865 D. Livingstone & C. Livingstone Narr. Exped. Zambesi iv. 97 The southern end of the range rises in the form of an unfinished sphinx. 1877 A. B. Edwards Thousand Miles up Nile Pref. p. xv The stone lips of a colossal Sphinx, buried to the neck in sand. β. 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1290 Setting up ordinarily before the..gates of their temples, certaine Sphinges.1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iv. 315 With which agreeth also the Testimony of Plutarch, he adding a further Confirmation thereof from the Egyptian Sphinges.1863 Ld. Lytton Ring of Amasis II. 32 The beautiful serious sphinges, with their smooth lion-limbs, and serene human faces.1877 Times 17 Feb. 4/5 There are handles ornamented with bull's heads, winged sphinges [etc.].γ. 1647 J. Cleveland Poems in Char. London-diurnall (Wing C4662) 34 As Temples use to have their Porches wrought With Sphynxes, creatures of an antick draught.1766 H. Walpole Lett. (1857) IV. 492 Two sphynxes in stone, with their heads coquetly reclined.1814 B. Heyne Tracts on India 336 In the Conjeveram pagoda there are pillars resting on sphynxes.1888 F. Hume Madame Midas i. iii. 28 The motionless calm which the old Egyptians gave to their sphinxes. b. spec. The colossal stone image of this kind near the pyramids of El-Gizeh in Egypt. ΚΠ 1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage I. vi. i. 467 Not farre hence is that Sphynx, a huge Colosse, with the head of a Maid, and bodie of a Lion. 1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. ii. v. 134 It is said, that this Sphynx, so soon as the Sun was up, gave responses to any thing it was consulted about. 1797 Encycl. Brit. XV. 681/2 The great sphynx was in his [Pliny's] time upwards of 62 feet above the surface of the ground. 1820 J. Keats Hyperion: a Fragm. i, in Lamia & Other Poems 147 Her face was large as that of Memphian sphinx. 1869 G. Rawlinson Man. Anc. Hist. 68 Thothmes IV, who cut the great sphinx near the Pyramids. 1879 W. J. Loftie Ride in Egypt 162 To some the Sphinx is part of the great ‘Time-passage’ theory. 3. A kind of ape; in modern use, a sphinx-baboon. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > order Primates > suborder Anthropoidea (higher primates) > [noun] > group Catarrhinae (Old World monkey) > family Cercopithecidae > genus Papio (baboon) > Papio hamadryas (hamadryas baboon) Sphinx1607 sphinx-baboon1871 hamadryad1894 hamadryas baboon1932 the world > animals > mammals > order Primates > suborder Anthropoidea (higher primates) > [noun] > group Catarrhinae (Old World monkey) > member of superfamily Hominoidea (apes and humans) > family Pongidae (ape) > unspecified type of satyra1398 Sphinx1607 soko1870 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 17 The Sphinx or Sphinga is of the kinde of Apes... In the promontory of the farthest Arabia neere Dira, are Sphinges and..Lyons. 1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage I. vi. i. 466 Other Apes there are store,..Satyres with feet like Goats, and Sphynges, with breasts like women and hairie. 1871 Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 148 This excited the indignation of the Sphinx, who trotted off to the further end of his cage. 4. An insect belonging to the lepidopterous genus Sphinx or to the family represented by this, so called from the attitude frequently assumed by the caterpillar. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Sphingidae > member of (sphinx moth) Sphinx1753 hawkmoth1785 sphinx moth1839 sphingid1912 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Sphinx,..a name given by Mr. Reaumur to a very singular species of caterpillar. 1802 W. Forsyth Treat. Fruit-trees xxviii. 273 The sphinges appear either early in the morning, or after sunset. 1816 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) II. xxiii. 369 The most remarkable insects in this respect are the sphinxes, and from this they doubtless took their name of hawk-moths. 1869 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1868 310 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (40th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc.) XV This order [sc. Lepidoptera] has been divided into three groups, called..butterflies, sphinges, and moths. 1882 Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 25 The larvæ of many Sphinges, etc., construct a cell in the ground. Compounds C1. attributive, as sphinx-enigma, sphinx-face, sphinx-figure, sphinx-form, sphinx-look, sphinx-question, sphinx-riddle. ΚΠ 1832 G. Long Egypt. Antiq. I. x. 218 So great is the variety of forms in which sphinx-figures occur. 1832 G. Long Egypt. Antiq. I. x. 225 Some light on the origin of the sphinx-form. 1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. vi. i. 302 What Sphinx-questions; which the distracted world,..must answer or die. 1862 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia III. xiii. i. 402 One must act, and act at once; but it is a perfect sphinx-enigma to say How. 1886 W. Graham Social Probl. 41 The veritable sphinx-riddle which not to solve is to be destroyed. 1900 Cent. Mag. Feb. 510/2 You still might see..the sphinx face of the old West, smiling, mysterious, alluring. 1923 D. H. Lawrence Ladybird: Fox: Captain's Doll 230 The queer, blank, sphinx-look with which he gazed out beyond himself. C2. sphinx-faced adj. ΚΠ 1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. vii. 69 I have..heard that the close approach to land of these sphinx-faced monsters [sc. walrus] portends a storm. sphinx-guarded adj. ΚΠ 1857 J. Hamilton Lessons from Great Biogr. 88 The Pharaohs sleep grandly in their sphinx-guarded sepulchres. sphinx-lined adj. ΚΠ 1859 J. H. Ingraham Pillar of Fire iii. viii. 517 [Pharaoh] proceeded..along the sphinx-lined avenue to the terrace of the Nile. C3. sphinx-baboon n. the Guinea Baboon ( Cynocephalus or Papio sphinx). ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > order Primates > suborder Anthropoidea (higher primates) > [noun] > group Catarrhinae (Old World monkey) > family Cercopithecidae > genus Papio (baboon) > Papio hamadryas (hamadryas baboon) Sphinx1607 sphinx-baboon1871 hamadryad1894 hamadryas baboon1932 1871 Cassell's Nat. Hist. 149 The Sphinx Baboon..is commonly seen in menageries, and stuffed in museums. sphinx moth n. = sense 4. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Sphingidae > member of (sphinx moth) Sphinx1753 hawkmoth1785 sphinx moth1839 sphingid1912 1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. ii. 37 Whenever I saw these little creatures..I was reminded of the sphinx moths. 1939 C. D. Duncan & G. B. Pickwell World of Insects x. 168 The caterpillars of the family of sphinx moths..have earned their name of ‘sphinx’ by their habit of rearing up their front ends, drawing in their heads, and thus assuming a threatening attitude. 1972 Sci. Amer. June 73/1 The larger sphinx moths weigh from two to six grams. Derivatives ˈsphinxian adj. of or pertaining to the Sphinx; sphinx-like. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [adjective] > of or resembling a Sphinx sphinxian1598 sphingian1620 sphingal1851 1598 J. Marston Certaine Satyres in Metamorph. Pigmalions Image 39 And in such pitchy clouds enwrapped beene His Sphinxian ridles, that old Oedipus Would be amaz'd. 1746 Brit. Mag. Apr. 53 Like the Monster represented in the Sphinxian Riddle. 1889 Jrnl. Educ. Nov. 575/1 The Œdipus to this sphinxian enigma seems unlikely to make his appearance. ˈsphinxily adv. in a sphinx-like manner. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [adverb] dighenlichec893 diȝelichec1200 darklyc1350 mysteriously1486 mystically1509 in (a) mystery1526 abstrusely1611 cryptically1663 oracularly1771 occultly1793 pokerishly1854 mystifically1880 sophically1888 sphinxily1889 mystifyingly1937 1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 25 Nov. 4 Mr. Marston smiled sphinxily. ˈsphinxine adj. characteristic of the Sphinx; enigmatical, mysterious. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [adjective] secrec1386 mystica1398 mystical1516 dark1532 arcane1547 occulta1549 shadowish1561 abstruse1576 cryptical1588 shrouded (also involved, wrapped) in mysterya1616 mysterious1622 mysterial1630 cryptica1638 researched1653 rarefied1662 arcanalc1828 sphinx-like1837 sphinxine1845 abstrusive1848 Sphingine1925 1845 E. B. Barrett Let. 2 May in Lett. R. Browning & E. B. Barrett (1899) I. 53 People say of you and of me..that we love the darkness and use a sphinxine idiom in our talk. 1845 E. B. Barrett Lett. (1897) I. 254 The sin of Sphinxine literature I admit. Have I not struggled hard to renounce it? ˈsphinxineness n. sphinx-like obscurity. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [noun] > mysterious state or quality mysticalness1608 mysterya1616 abstruseness1628 mysteriousness1633 abstrusity1649 mysticity1761 mysticality1834 sphinxineness1845 1845 E. B. Barrett Lett. (1897) I. 254 Tell me honestly..if anything like the Sphinxineness of Browning, you discover in me. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1420
随便看	rough-furrowed rough-gaited rough-grained rough-grind rough-ground rough-haired rough-handed rough-handedness rough-headed rough-headed poppy rough-hearted rough-heartedness rough-hew rough-hewed rough-hewer rough-hewing rough-hewn rough-hull rough-hurled rough-in rough-jacketed rough-keeled rough-keeled snake rough-land rough-lay