phoenix

See also: Phoenix, Phönix, phœnix, and Phœnix

English

Phoenix
Stone bas-relief with phoenixes, Eastern Han dynasty, Tokyo National Museum
Phoenix (Greek coin)

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English and Old French fenix, from Medieval Latin phenix, from Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνιξ (phoînix), from Egyptian bnw (boinu, grey heron). 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.[1]

Pronunciation

  • enPR: fē'nĭks, IPA(key): /ˈfiːnɪks/
  • Rhymes: -iːnɪks

Noun

phoenix (plural phoenix or phoenixes or phoenices)

  1. (mythology) A mythological bird, said to be the only one of its kind, which lives for 500 years and then dies by burning to ashes on a pyre of its own making, ignited by the sun. It then arises anew from the ashes.
  2. (figuratively) Anything that is reborn after apparently being destroyed. Usually used as a simile.
    Astronomers believe planets might form in this dead star's disk, like the mythical Phoenix rising up out of the ashes.
  3. (Chinese mythology) A mythological Chinese chimerical bird whose physical body symbolizes the six celestial bodies.
  4. (historical) A Greek silver coin used briefly from 1828 to 1832, divided into 100 lepta.

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

References

  1. Maria Carmela Betrò, Hieroglyphics: The Writings of Ancient Egypt (Abbeville, 1996), 108.

Latin

Pronunciation

Noun

phoenīx f (genitive phoenīcis); third declension

  1. phoenix

Inflection

Third declension i-stem.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative phoenīx phoenīcēs
Genitive phoenīcis phoenīcium
Dative phoenīcī phoenīcibus
Accusative phoenīcem phoenīcēs
Ablative phoenīce phoenīcibus
Vocative phoenīx phoenīcēs

Noun

phoenīx m (genitive phoenīcis); third declension

  1. Phoenician

Inflection

Third declension.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative phoenīx phoenīcēs
Genitive phoenīcis phoenīcum
Dative phoenīcī phoenīcibus
Accusative phoenīcem phoenīcēs
Ablative phoenīce phoenīcibus
Vocative phoenīx phoenīcēs

Adjective

phoenīx (genitive phoenīcis); third declension

  1. Phoenician

Inflection

Third declension, non-i-stem (genitive plural in -um).

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masc./Fem. Neuter Masc./Fem. Neuter
Nominative phoenīx phoenīx phoenīcēs phoenīca
Genitive phoenīcis phoenīcis phoenīcum phoenīcum
Dative phoenīcī phoenīcī phoenīcibus phoenīcibus
Accusative phoenīcem phoenīx phoenīcēs phoenīca
Ablative phoenīce phoenīce phoenīcibus phoenīcibus
Vocative phoenīx phoenīx phoenīcēs phoenīca

Synonyms

(Phoenician):

References

(phoenix):

(Phoenician):

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