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PlainSpell

syrinx

sy·rinx/ˈsɪɹɪŋks/noun

syrinx is a noun meaning “A set of panpipes” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled S-Y-R-I-N-X and has 2 syllables (sy·rinx), and it appears about once in every 15 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of syrinx is syrinxes or syringes.

What does syrinx mean?

noun

  1. 1

    A set of panpipes.

  2. 2

    Chiefly in the plural: a narrow channel cut in rock, especially in Ancient Egyptian burial chambers.

  3. 3

    Any of several abnormal tube-shaped structures in the body, especially a rare, fluid-filled neuroglial cavity in the brain stem or within the spinal cord.

  4. 4

    The voice organ in birds, located at or near where the trachea and the bronchi join.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce syrinx?

  • US /ˈsɪɹɪŋks/
  • UK /sɪˈɹɪnd͡ʒiːz/
  • US /sɪˈɹɪnd͡ʒiz/

Syrinx has 2 syllables, split sy·rinx in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-syrinx.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-syringes_(syrinx).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of syrinx

  • syrinxes plural
  • syringes plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is syrinx?

Syrinx appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 115,751st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Syrinx in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsyrinx (any of several abnormal tube-shaped structures…)
GermanStimmkopf (voice organ in birds)
Portuguesesiringe (voice organ in birds)
Spanishsiringe (voice organ in birds)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does syrinx come from?

Learned borrowing from Latin sȳrinx (“reed; reed pipe, panpipes”), from Ancient Greek σῦριγξ (sûrinx, “panpipes; pipe-shaped object”), from Pre-Greek. Doublet of syringe. The plural form syringes is a learned borrowing from Latin sȳringes.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).