sphinx

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈspʰɪŋks]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsfiŋks]^[1]

Forms

sphinx f (genitive sphingis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphínx, “Sphinx”).^[2][1] The Greek name is perhaps from σφίγγω (sphíngō, “to squeeze, strangle”), or perhaps from Egyptian šzp-ꜥnḫ (“living image”).^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, in the Poenulus, says an Oedipus is needed, who was the Sphinx's interpreter.^[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was a monster of Egyptian origin with a human head and a lion's body, above all the Sphinx of Thebes, which killed those who could not solve its riddle until Oedipus did.^[2][5] It was also a statue of such a monster, as the Great Sphinx described by Pliny the Elder, and Suetonius says Augustus first sealed documents with a sphinx.^[2] Mela and Pliny use it of an animal of Ethiopia, apparently an ape.^[2]

In medieval Latin it was still a half-human monster and a kind of monkey.^[6] Köbler adds a medieval sense of a kind of carp.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions the Sphinx's riddle.^[2][3]
• 43/44 AD – Mela uses it of an Ethiopian ape.^[2][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the Great Sphinx.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The sphinx, a monster with a human head and a lion's body, especially the Sphinx of Thebes.^[2][5]
2. A statue of a sphinx.^[2]
3. An Ethiopian ape.^[2][6]

Word family

• sphingatus

Related words

• English sphinx

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press