sphinx
French, noun/sfɛ̃ks/
sphinx is spelled S-P-H-I-N-X (6 letters) and appears 1.4 times per million words in written French, the 25,237th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Sphinx is a French feminine noun meaning “sphinx” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Monstre ayant une tête humaine et un corps de lion, il symbolisait la renaissance perpétuelle chez les…”.
What does sphinx mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininemasculinesphinx
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Monstre ayant une tête humaine et un corps de lion, il symbolisait la renaissance perpétuelle chez les anciens égyptiens. 2. Le sphinx de Gizeh. 3. Ton père fut un sphinx et ta mère une nuit. – (Apollinaire, Le Larron, in Alcools, 1913) 4. Monstre ayant la tête et les seins d’une femme, le corps d’un lion et les ailes d’un aigle.
adjective: 1. Énigmatique ; incompréhensible.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of sphinx
- sphinge alternative
- sphynge
- Sphinx
- sphynx
- sphinges plural feminine
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce sphinx?
- /sfɛ̃ks/
- \sfɛ̃ks\
- [sfɛ̃ks]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to sphinx
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is sphinx in French?
sphinx appears 1.4 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).