Today’s fascinating discovery revolves around the word sphinx and its plurals. Did you know that sphinx can correctly be pluralized as both sphinxes and sphinges? The former is the English pluralization, while the latter reflects its roots in the Latin noun sphinx from the third declension. Originating from Ancient Greek, where it meant “the strangler,” the word is believed to stem from the verb sphingein, meaning “to squeeze.” This connection is even more intriguing when we consider that sphingein also gave rise to sphinkter, a term used to describe something that binds or squeezes tightly, which, through Latin, evolved into the English word sphincter. However, some etymologists propose an alternative origin, suggesting that sphinx may have Egyptian roots in szpnh, meaning “divine image.” Let’s hope this theory is not the case.
