phoenix en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈfiːnɪks/
- fē'nĭks
Etymology
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 (bnw, “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.
Meanings
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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.
burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood
1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 19”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
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(figuratively) Anything that is reborn after apparently being destroyed.
Many of the legitimate nightclubs of today sprang like legalized phoenixes from the still-hot ashes of the speakeasies of prohibition days.
1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 90:Astronomers believe planets might form in this dead star's disk, like the mythical Phoenix rising up out of the ashes.
Lord Allerton was that modern phœnix, a young man, without a single objection.
1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter II, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 17:
- (Chinese) A mythological Chinese chimerical bird whose physical body symbolizes the six celestial bodies; a fenghuang.
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(historical) A Greek silver coin used briefly from 1828 to 1832, divided into 100 lepta.
The national currency, the phoenix, which had been established by Kapodistrias, was renamed after an ancient Greek coin, the drachma.
2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 116:
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(obsolete) A marvelous person or thing.
He may not be a phœnix of cleverness in your sense; his profession is different; but it would be all the better for you to talk a little on his subjects.
1871–1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter LVIII, in Middlemarch […], volume III, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book VI, page 282:
- A geometer moth of species Eulithis prunata.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| phoenix | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| phoenices | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| phœnix | alternative, archaic | lexicographic | |
| phoenixes | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| phenix | alternative, archaic | lexicographic |
Deriveds
phoenix iris (Hypochrosis iris · phoenixity · phoenix aeolid · phoenix quaker · bokkeveld phoenix · Serbian phoenix flower · phoenix billbug · phoenixism · American small phoenix · phoenix sandperch · phoenixlike · phoenix damsel · phoenix barb · frosted phoenix · Texas phoenix palm decline · like a phoenix from the ashes · phoenix talussnail · sphinx phoenix · phoenix rising · phoenix palm · phoenix petrel · phoenix jumping spider · phoenix tetra · northwestern phoenix moth · phoenix bitter-pea · phoenix emerald moth · small phoenix · phoenix devil · phoenix fly · phoenix blackclock
Translations (105)
hi ककनू (mythological bird) · ja フェニックス (mythological bird) · bn ফিনিক্স (mythological bird) · gl fénix (mythological bird) · fa-cls آذرافروز (mythological bird) · mk фе́никс (mythological bird) · eo fenikso (mythological bird) · ja 鳳凰 (mythological bird) · sh féniks (mythological bird) · khb ᦷᦓᧅᦝᦲᦓᦲᧅ (mythological bird) · hu főnix (mythological bird) · es fénice (mythological bird) · it fenice (mythological bird) · fi feeniks (mythological bird) · ko 불사조 (mythological bird) · sk fénix (mythological bird) · th นกฟีนิกซ์ (mythological bird) · ar فِينِيكْس (mythological bird) · nn føniks (anything reborn after apparently being destroyed) · hi अमर-पक्षी (mythological bird) · ar فِينِيق (mythological bird) · egy b-n:nw*w-G31 (mythological bird) · nb føniks (mythological bird) · es fénix (mythological bird) · af feniks (anything reborn after apparently being destroyed) · grc φοῖνιξ (mythological bird) · ca fènix (mythological bird) · sh žȃr-ptȉca (mythological bird) · ug سۇمرۇغ (mythological bird) · sh фе́никс (mythological bird) · ja 不死鳥 (anything reborn after apparently being destroyed) · hu főnixmadár (mythological bird) · ro fenix (mythological bird) · oge ფჳნიქსი (mythological bird) · ko 불사조 (anything reborn after apparently being destroyed) · lo ນົກຟີນິກຊ໌ (mythological bird) · pt fénix (mythological bird) · kum бийдаякъ (mythological bird) · hi ककनूँ (mythological bird) · fa ققنوس (mythological bird) · el φοίνικας (mythological bird) · hi अमरपक्षी (mythological bird) · ru фе́никс (mythological bird) · tr konrul (mythological bird) · nb føniks (anything reborn after apparently being destroyed) · de Phönix (mythological bird) · za funghvuengz (mythological bird) · lt feniksas (mythological bird) · pl feniks (mythological bird) · ru фе́никс (anything reborn after apparently being destroyed) · ka ფენიქსი (mythological bird) · tr tuğrul (mythological bird) · bg фе́никс (mythological bird) · fr phénix (mythological bird) · scn finici (mythological bird) · io fenixo (mythological bird) · he עוֹף חוֹל (mythological bird) · el φοίνικας (anything reborn after apparently being destroyed) · is fönix (mythological bird) · tr Anka (mythological bird) · fa ققنس (mythological bird) · lv fēnikss (mythological bird) · sh féniks (anything reborn after apparently being destroyed) · tr Zümrüdüanka (mythological bird) · af feniks (mythological bird) · hi सीमुर्ग (mythological bird) · nn føniks (mythological bird) · sh жа̑р-пти̏ца (mythological bird) · id funiks (mythological bird) · af feniksvoël (mythological bird) · pt fénice (mythological bird) · sl feniks (mythological bird) · ja 火の鳥 (mythological bird) · sv fenix (mythological bird) · sh фе́никс (anything reborn after apparently being destroyed) · pt fênix (mythological bird) · gd ainneamhag (mythological bird) · ar عَنْقَاء (mythological bird) · bo མེ་སྦྱིར་ཀརྨ་ (mythological bird) · pl feniks (anything reborn after apparently being destroyed) · uk фенікс (mythological bird) · ru жар-пти́ца (mythological bird) · hy փյունիկ (mythological bird) · nl feniks (anything reborn after apparently being destroyed) · yi פֿעניקס (mythological bird) · chr ᏧᎴᎯᏌᏅᎯ (mythological bird) · id foniks (mythological bird) · ar فُقْنُس (mythological bird) · cmn 鳳凰 /凤凰 (mythological bird) · vo fönig (mythological bird) · cy ffenics (mythological bird) · da føniks (mythological bird) · nl feniks (mythological bird) · hi हुमा (mythological bird) · pt fênice (mythological bird) · id feniks (mythological bird) · ur ققنس (mythological bird) · tl peniks (mythological bird) · mk фе́никс (anything reborn after apparently being destroyed) · tr Simurg (mythological bird) · fo føniks (mythological bird) · sq feniks (mythological bird) · ja 不死鳥 (mythological bird) · cmn 不死鳥 /不死鸟 (mythological bird) · ko 불새 (mythological bird)