scyl·la \ˈsilə\noun (-s) Usage: usually capitalized Etymology: from Scylla (now Scilla), headland on the Italian coast projecting into the Strait of Messina opposite the whirlpool Charybdis on the Sicilian coast, from Latin, from Greek Skylla : a destructive peril — usually used as the alternative to Charybdis < the Scylla of incomprehensibility and the Charybdis of inaccuracy have both been avoided — Times Literary Supplement >