More about androsphinx

Androsphinx, “a sphinx with the head of a man,” is a compound of andro-, “man,” and sphinx, the mythical riddle-posing creature composed of a woman’s head, a lion’s body, and a bird’s wings. Andro- comes from Ancient Greek anḗr, “man,” which is the source of the names Alexander, Andromeda, and Cassandra. Sphinx comes from Ancient Greek sphínx, which is based on the verb sphíngein, “to hold tight,” perhaps after a sphinx’s storied tendency to strangle the poor souls who could not solve its riddles. The female equivalent of androsphinx should be “gynecosphinx” for etymological reasons, though numerous sources use the not-quite-yet-standardized “gynosphinx” instead. Androsphinx was first recorded in English in the first decade of the 17th century.

EXAMPLE OF ANDROSPHINX USED IN A SENTENCE

Though the sphinx in the Greek myth of Oedipus was a winged female, the Great Sphinx of Giza is a wingless androsphinx.

More about dwy

Dwy, “a gusty flurry,” is used in the Newfoundland dialect of English, and it may be linked originally to dwyes, “eddies,” in the dialect of the Isle of Wight (off the coast of southern England) or twy, “coastal squall,” in the dialects of Hampshire and Wiltshire (in southern England). Newfoundland is well known for its unique variety of English, which exhibits heavy influence from the English dialects of southern/southwestern England, southeastern Ireland, and both Highland and Lowland Scotland, despite its location in Atlantic Canada, because of longtime immigration from those regions. Dwy was first recorded in English in the early 1860s.

EXAMPLE OF DWY USED IN A SENTENCE

The lighthouse keeper knew that she had to prepare for the dwies of winter.

More about momentous

Momentous, “of great or far-reaching importance or consequence,” is based on the noun moment and the adjective-forming suffix -ous. Moment comes from Latin mōmentum, literally meaning “motion” and figuratively signifying an influential element, such as a point in time. The mō- element of mōmentum comes from the verb movēre, “to move.” Movēre is the direct source of move, while its stem mōt- is found in motion and motor, and mō- also appears in mobile. Momentous was first recorded in English circa 1650.

EXAMPLE OF MOMENTOUS USED IN A SENTENCE

Serena Williams has achieved many momentous wins in her historic career, including a record setting number of Grand Slam titles.

For another momentous word, find out what we chose as the 2022 Word Of The Year!