Sphinx (?), n. [L., from Gr. σφίγξ, usually derived from σφίγγειν 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. Shelley.
(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. The most famous Grecian sphinx, that of Thebes in Bœotia, is said to have proposed a riddle to the Thebans, and killed those who were unable to guess it. The enigma was solved by Œdipus, whereupon the sphinx slew herself. “Subtle as sphinx.” Shak.
2. Hence: A person of enigmatical character and purposes, especially in politics and diplomacy.
3. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of large moths of the family Sphingidæ; — called also hawk moth.
☞ The larva is a stout naked caterpillar which, when at rest, often assumes a position suggesting the Egyptian sphinx, whence the name.
4. (Zoöl.) The Guinea, or sphinx, baboon (Cynocephalus sphinx).
Sphinx baboon(Zoöl.), a large West African baboon (Cynocephalus sphinx), often kept in menageries. — Sphinx moth. (Zoöl.) Same as Sphinx, 3.