entry
sphinx
/sfɪŋks/Mythic riddle-guard with a lion's body.
From Greek sphing (to squeeze).
from Latin Sphinx
from Latin Sphinx
from Latin Sphinx
from Latin Sphinx
Word Ancestry
from Latin Sphinx
from Latin Sphinx
from Latin Sphinx
from Latin Sphinx
The Greeks gave this monster a name that sounds like a clenched hand: Sphinx, the 'strangler.' That is a wonderfully nasty image for a creature who sat outside Thebes and demanded an answer before letting anyone pass — or else. The same squeeze-and-bind idea lurks behind **sphincter**, which is a lot less glamorous but somehow makes the ancient etymology feel even more physical. By the time English picked up **sphinx** in the early 1400s, it could mean not only the monster from Oedipus's story but also, later, a stone colossus in Egypt and any person who sits there unreadable as a locked door. So the word has always carried the same chill: something that keeps its grip and refuses to let you through unless you can solve it.
The Story
The Greeks gave this monster a name that sounds like a clenched hand: Sphinx, the 'strangler.' That is a wonderfully nasty image for a creature who sat outside Thebes and demanded an answer before letting anyone pass — or else. The same squeeze-and-bind idea lurks behind **sphincter**, which is a lot less glamorous but somehow makes the ancient etymology feel even more physical. By the time English picked up **sphinx** in the early 1400s, it could mean not only the monster from Oedipus's story but also, later, a stone colossus in Egypt and any person who sits there unreadable as a locked door. So the word has always carried the same chill: something that keeps its grip and refuses to let you through unless you can solve it.
Kin & Kindred
From 'sphing'·to squeeze, bind; the strangler
Derived Terms
English words from this root