# peryton

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. A fictional creature having the head and forelegs of a stag and the wings and hindquarters of a bird.
2. A radio signal which appears to come from outside the galaxy but is actually produced by terrestrial sources.

## Etymology
Coined by the translator Norman Thomas di Giovanni translating Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings, from Borges' invented Spanish peritio. Astrophysical use began with a paper by S. Burke-Spolaor et al. (see quotations).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/peryton