Griffin or griffon?
griffin is a noun meaning “A mythical creature with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle”; griffon is a noun meaning “Alternative form of griffin (mythical creature)”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) griffin is about 34 times as common as griffon.
What is the difference between griffin and griffon?
| griffin | griffon | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | A mythical creature with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle A griffon vulture, a large vulture (Gyps fulvus) found in the mountainous parts of Southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor, supposed to be the "eagle" of… | A breed of dog usually called the Brussels griffon, reminiscent of the mythical creature A griffon vulture |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | griffins | griffons |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɡɹɪf.ɪn/ | /ˈɡɹɪfən/ |
| In writing | 7.9 times per million words | about once in every 4 million words |
Sources: griffin and griffon in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of griffin and griffon
griffin
- 1
A mythical creature with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle
- 2
A griffon vulture, a large vulture (Gyps fulvus) found in the mountainous parts of Southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor, supposed to be the "eagle" of the Bible
- 3
An English variety of apple
- 4
IndiadatedA person who has just arrived from Europe
- 5
A cadet newly arrived in British India: half English, half Indian
- 6
A watchful guardian, especially a duenna in charge of a young woman
griffon
- 1
Alternative form of griffin (mythical creature)
- 2
A breed of dog usually called the Brussels griffon, reminiscent of the mythical creature
- 3
A griffon vulture
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, griffin or griffon?
griffin appears 7.9 times per million words; griffon about once in every 4 million words.
griffin 7.9 times per million wordsgriffon about once in every 4 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search griffin vs griffon?
“griffin vs griffon” is searched about 140 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“griffon vs griffin”, “griffin or griffon”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.