Link Centre Dictionary

Phoenix

phoe·nix

UK/ˈfiːnɪks/ US/ˈfinɪks/ fairly common

noun

1.
2.

a large monocotyledonous genus of pinnate-leaved palms found in Asia and Africa

Synonyms
3.

a legendary Arabian bird said to periodically burn itself to death and emerge from the ashes as a new phoenix; according to most versions only one phoenix lived at a time and it renewed itself every 500 years

4.

Origin

From Old English and Old French fenix, from Medieval Latin phenix, from Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνιξ (phoînix), from Egyptian b-n:nw*w-G31 (boinu, “grey heron”). Doublet of Bennu. The grey heron was venerated at Heliopolis and associated in Egypt with the cyclical renewal of life because the bird rises in flight at dawn and migrates back every year in the flood season to inhabit the Nile waters.

Phrases

  • American small phoenix
  • bokkeveld phoenix
  • frosted phoenix
  • like a phoenix from the ashes
  • northwestern phoenix moth
  • phoenix aeolid
  • phoenix barb
  • phoenix billbug

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.