這個拼法底下其實是2個不同的字，意思沒有關係， 只是長得一樣。下面分開列出來。跳到 sphinx, mythical or riddling figure · the Sphinx (Giza statue)
Sphinx · sphinx
sphinx
組成Through Latin Sphinx from Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphinx). Scholars offer two accounts: it may come from σφίγγω (sphingō) "to squeeze, to strangle" — the same root as sphincter, fitting the monster who choked her victims — or it may come from Egyptian šzp-ꜥnḫ, "living image". Neither is settled, so say "probably".
同家族的字
- sphinctermay share the Greek root 'to squeeze' — one of the two proposed origins, not certain
A second word, same spelling
Sphinx
組成Does not split into parts. The English word came through Latin from Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphínx). Where the Greeks got it is not settled: one line of thinking connects it to the Greek verb σφίγγω (sphíngō) 'to squeeze, to strangle' — the monster strangled people who failed her riddle — and that same verb did give us 'sphincter', a squeezing ring of muscle in the body. Another line says the Greeks were repeating an Egyptian phrase šzp-ꜥnḫ, 'living image'. Scholars still argue about which is right, so hold both loosely.
同家族的字
- sphincterBoth are traced by many scholars to Greek σφίγγω 'to squeeze' — the muscle that squeezes shut, and the monster who strangled. The Sphinx side of this is likely rather than certain.
原始詞典資料12 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
Sphinxname/ˈsfɪŋks/
- 1
An ancient, large statue in Egypt, with the face of a man and the body of a lion, lying near the Great Pyramids.
- 2
human-sciencesmysticismmythologyOne of the many offspring of Typhon and Echidna, a winged lion-like creature with a woman's face, who dwelt near the city of Thebes in Boeotia and terrorized travelers by posing riddles, killing those who failed to answer correctly; after Oedipus solved her riddle, she committed suicide out of frustration.
sphinxnoun/ˈsfɪŋks/
- 1
human-sciencesmysticismmythologyA creature with the head of a person and the body of an animal, commonly a lion.
- [W]hatsoe'er of strange / Sculptured on alabaster obelisk, / Or jasper tomb, or mutilated sphynx, / Dark Æthiopia in her desert hills. / Conceals.
- 2
A person who keeps their thoughts and intentions secret; an enigmatic or impassive person.
- ...it is clear that judges are no longer required to be as passive as they once were; to be what I call sphinx judges. We now not only accept that a judge may intervene in the adversarial debate, but also believe that it is sometimes essential for him to do so for justice in fact to be done.
- 3
datedA mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx), formerly classified as a baboon, and called sphinx baboon.
- 4
A sphinx moth.
- 5
rareA sphincter.
- Constance said boastfully, ‘My sphinxes are strong and in good repair. I order you to come.’
sphinxverb/ˈsfɪŋks/
- 1
To decorate with sphinxes.
- a marble sphinxed chimney-piece
- 2
To adopt the posture of the Sphinx.
- A hot lion with a very bloated stomach … will adopt either a sphinxed or a squatting posture which takes some of the weight off its belly.
- Several animals maintained either a crouched … or a sphinxing posture (abdomen on the floor)
- 3
To be inscrutable, often through silence.
- The sphinxèd riddle of the Universe, Nature's unsolved enigma, who may prove?
- Then there are the folks trying to do a Garbo on us[…]Janet Gaynor, so they tell, is sphinxing it and has gone into a Retirement, with "Nothing to Say — Please Go Away" written on the doormat.
- 4
To behave in a manner characteristic of the Sphinx.
- Perhaps Nature is sphinxing us on purpose. Whatever her objects may be, perhaps she gets her work done better when she appeals to our gambling instincts. If you knew for certain exactly how your marriage was going to turn out[…]
- And then he summarizes his fears with a reference to that icon which[…]stood for the feminine threat to civilization: “Crowds are somewhat like the sphinx of ancient fable: it is necessary to arrive at a solution of the problems offered by their psychology or to resign ourselves to being devoured by them.” Male fears of an engulfing femininity are here projected onto the metropolitan masses, who did indeed represent a threat to the rational bourgeois order.[…]We may want to relate Le Bon's social psychology of the masses back to modernism's own fears of being sphinxed.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。