Sphinx
Sphinx , noun
[Latin, from Greek sfi`gx, usually derived from sfi`ggein to bind tight or together, as if the Throttler.]
1.
(a) In Egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion.
The awful ruins of the days of old...
Or jasper tomb, or mutilated sphinx.
The most famous Grecian sphinx, that of Thebes in Bootia, is said to have proposed a riddle to the Thebans, and killed those who were unable to guess it. The enigma was solved by Odipus, whereupon the sphinx slew herself.
(b)
On Greek art and mythology, a she-monster, usually represented as having the winged body of a lion, and the face and breast of a young woman.
Subtle as sphinx.
2.
Hence: A person of enigmatical character and purposes, especially in politics and diplomacy.
3.
(Zoology) Any one of numerous species of large moths of the family Sphingidae; -- called also hawk moth. See also tomato worm.
The larva is a stout naked caterpillar which, when at rest, often assumes a position suggesting the Egyptian sphinx, whence the name.
4.
(Zoology) The Guinea, or sphinx, baboon (Cynocephalus sphinx).
Collocations (2)
Sphinx baboon (Zoology) , a large West African baboon (Cynocephalus sphinx), often kept in menageries.