| 单词 | sphinx |
| 释义 | sphinx[ sfingks ] / sfɪŋks / SEE SYNONYMS FOR sphinx ON THESAURUS.COM noun, plural sphinx·es, sphin·ges [sfin-jeez]. /ˈsfɪn dʒiz/.(in ancient Egypt)
(initial capital letter)Classical Mythology. a monster, usually represented as having the head and breast of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. Seated on a rock outside of Thebes, she proposed a riddle to travelers, killing them when they answered incorrectly, as all did before Oedipus. When he answered her riddle correctly the Sphinx killed herself. any similar monster. a mysterious, inscrutable person or thing, especially one given to enigmatic questions or answers. Origin of sphinx1375–1425; late Middle English <Latin <Greek sphínx, equivalent to sphing-, base of sphíngein to hold tight (cf. sphincter) + -s nominative singular ending Words nearby sphinxsphingolipidosis, sphingomyelin, sphingomyelin lipidosis, sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase, sphingosine, sphinx, sphinxlike, sphinx moth, sphragistic, sphragistics, sp. ht. Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020 Example sentences from the Web for sphinxBritish Dictionary definitions for sphinx (1 of 2)sphinx / (sfɪŋks) / noun plural sphinxes or sphinges (ˈsfɪndʒiːz)any of a number of huge stone statues built by the ancient Egyptians, having the body of a lion and the head of a man an inscrutable person British Dictionary definitions for sphinx (2 of 2)Sphinx / (sfɪŋks) / noun the SphinxGreek myth a monster with a woman's head and a lion's body. She lay outside Thebes, asking travellers a riddle and killing them when they failed to answer it. Oedipus answered the riddle and the Sphinx then killed herself the huge statue of a sphinx near the pyramids at El Gîza in Egypt, of which the head is a carved portrait of the fourth-dynasty Pharaoh, Chephrēn Word Origin for SphinxC16: via Latin from Greek, apparently from sphingein to hold fast Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Cultural definitions for sphinx (1 of 2)Sphinx [ (sfingks) ] In the story of Oedipus, a winged monster with the head of a woman and the body of a lion. It waylaid travelers on the roads near the city of Thebes and would kill any of them who could not answer this riddle: “What creatures walk on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?” Oedipus finally gave the correct answer: human beings, who go on all fours as infants, walk upright in maturity, and in old age rely on the “third leg” of a cane. notes for SphinxThe sphinx of Greek mythology resembles the sphinx of Egyptian mythology but is distinct from it (the Egyptian sphinx had a man's head). (See under “Fine Arts.”) Cultural definitions for sphinx (2 of 2)Sphinx [ (sfingks) ] A great sculpture carved from the rock near the Egyptian pyramids in about 2500 b.c. It depicts a creature from Egyptian mythology with the head of a man and the body of a lion. (See under “Mythology and Folklore.”) The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. |
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