phoenix

B1 Topic:Animals

US /ˈfiːnɪks/ See IPA manual

Freq #5508

Meanings

1

noun
A mythical bird that burns itself to ashes and then rises again, born new from the ashes.

In the legend, the phoenix rose from the ashes every five hundred years.
2

noun
Something that comes back strongly after seeming to be destroyed.

The city rose like a phoenix after the great fire.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms phoenixes

Derived forms phoenixismphoenixityphoenixlike

Etymology

From Old English and Old French fenix, from Medieval Latin phenix, from Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνιξ (phoînix), from Egyptian b-n:nw*w-G31 (boinu, “grey heron”). Doublet of Bennu. The grey heron was venerated at Heliopolis and associated in Egypt with the cyclical renewal of life because the bird rises in flight at dawn and migrates back every year in the flood season to inhabit the Nile waters.

fenix Old French phenix la-med phoenīx Latin φοῖνιξ Ancient Greek bnw egy

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Animals

External links

# phoenix

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈfiːnɪks/
**Frequency rank:** 5508

## Meanings
1. A mythical bird that burns itself to ashes and then rises again, born new from the ashes.
2. Something that comes back strongly after seeming to be destroyed.

## Examples
- In the legend, the phoenix rose from the ashes every five hundred years.
- The city rose like a phoenix after the great fire.

## Derived Forms
- phoenixism
- phoenixity
- phoenixlike

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fenix
- Root: phenix
- Root: phoenīx
- Root: φοῖνιξ
- Root: bnw

## Etymology
From Old English and Old French fenix, from Medieval Latin phenix, from Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνιξ (phoînix), from Egyptian b-n:nw*w-G31 (boinu, “grey heron”). Doublet of Bennu. The grey heron was venerated at Heliopolis and associated in Egypt with the cyclical renewal of life because the bird rises in flight at dawn and migrates back every year in the flood season to inhabit the Nile waters.

## AI Etymology
Phoenix comes from Old English and Old French fenix, from Medieval Latin phenix, from Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνιξ (phoînix), from Egyptian b-n:nw*w-G31 (boinu, “grey heron”). Doublet of Bennu. The grey heron was venerated at Heliopolis and associated in Egypt with the cyclical renewal of life because the bird rises in flight at dawn and migrates back every year in the flood season to inhabit the Nile waters. In present-day English it covers a mythical bird that burns itself to ashes and then rises again, born new from the ashes and something that comes back strongly after seeming to be destroyed. The wider family includes derived forms such as phoenixism, phoenixity, phoenixlike.

## Topics
- Animals

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