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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

sphingine en · ADJ

Etymology

From (the stem of) Latin sphinx + -ine.

Meanings

  1. (rare) Sphinx-like.
    • The word I was looking for, I suppose, was "sphingine" – I thought of the baleful prehistoric smile of the Mycenaean women. 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 109:
    • For whenever she asked him how much he had written, he regularly answered 'Nothing,' smiling at her meanwhile that courteous and Sphingine smile which Mrs Aldwinkle always found so baffling, so pre-eminently 'queer'. 1925, Aldous Huxley, Those Barren Leaves:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
most sphingine Degree=Sup lexicographic
more sphingine Degree=Cmp lexicographic

sphingine en · NOUN

Etymology

From (the stem of) Latin sphinx + -ine.

Meanings

  1. (countable, uncountable) The amino alcohol 2-amino-octadecanol CH₃(CH₂)₁₅-CH(NH₂)-CH₂OH related to sphingosine; any related amino alcohol

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
sphingines Number=Plur lexicographic