sphinx
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
sphinx/sfɪŋks/
▶noun
- 1 an ancient Egyptian stone figure having a lion's body and a human or animal head.
- 2 an enigmatic or inscrutable person.
- 3 North American term for hawkmoth.
– origin ME: via L. from Gk Sphinx (appar. from sphingein ‘draw tight’), the name of a winged monster in Greek mythology, having a woman's head and a lion's body, who propounded a riddle and killed those who failed to solve it.
'sphinx' also found in these Oxford entries:
