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manticore

[ man-ti-kawr, -kohr ]
/ ˈmæn tɪˌkɔr, -ˌkoʊr /
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noun
a legendary monster with a man's head, horns, a lion's body, and the tail of a dragon or, sometimes, a scorpion.
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Origin of manticore

1300–50; Middle English <Latin mantichōrās<Greek, erroneous reading for martichṓras<Iranian; compare Old Persian martiya- man, Avestan xvar- devour, Persian mardom-khar< man-eating; probably ultimately alluding to the tiger, once common in the Caspian Sea region
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

British Dictionary definitions for manticore

manticore
/ (ˈmæntɪˌkɔː) /

noun
a monster with a lion's body, a scorpion's tail, and a man's head with three rows of teeth. It roamed the jungles of India and, like the Sphinx, would ask travellers a riddle and kill them when they failed to answer it

Word Origin for manticore

C21: from Latin manticora, from Greek mantichōrās, corruption of martichorās, from Persian mardkhora man-eater
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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