phoenix English · revision 6351

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 900|origins=grc φοῖνιξ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfiːnɪks/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Old English and Middle English fenix, partly [[bor|fro|fenix]], from [[la|phoenix]], from [[grc|φοῖνιξ|tr=phoînix|t=phoenix, date palm, Phoenician, crimson]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) of unknown origin.^(Hoad 1986) NODE notes that the relationship between the Greek senses is obscure,^(NODE 1998) and Etymonline thinks the bird's name unrelated to [[Phoenician]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The mythical bird: about 900, in the Old English poem ''The Phoenix''.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The bird was the only one of its kind; after living 500 or 600 years in the Arabian desert it built a funeral pyre of spices, set it alight and was burned, then rose again from the ashes in renewed youth.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The figurative sense, something that rises from the ashes of what was destroyed, is from the 1590s.^(Etymonline) Spellings with ph- appear in the late 15th century, and the spelling was made to follow the Greek in the 16th.^(Etymonline) The southern constellation was added to Ptolemy's list by Petrus Plancius in the 1610s.^(Etymonline) The American spelling phenix is also found.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 900 – fenix, the mythical bird.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 15th century – spellings with ph-.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – something reborn from destruction.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1610s – the constellation.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # In mythology, a bird that lives for centuries, burns itself to ashes and rises again, a symbol of rebirth.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person or thing that rises again after being destroyed.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person or thing of rare excellence; a paragon.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[phoenixlike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Phoenician]]

+ * [[phoenix palm]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}