gryphon

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gryph·on

(grĭf′ən)

Variant of griffin.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gryphon

(ˈɡrɪfən)

(Classical Myth & Legend) a variant of griffin¹

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

grif•fin

(ˈgrɪf ɪn)

also griffon

a fabled monster, usu. having the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.

[1300–50; Middle English griffoun < Middle French grifon < Latin grȳphus < Greek grȳp-, s. of gryps curled, curved, having a hooked nose]

grif`fin•esque′, adj.

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Noun

gryphon - winged monster with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion

griffin, griffon

mythical creature, mythical monster - a monster renowned in folklore and myth

Translations

Greif

References in classic literature ?

They very soon came upon a Gryphon, lying fast asleep in the sun.

I must go back and see after some executions I have ordered'; and she walked off, leaving Alice alone with the Gryphon. Alice did not quite like the look of the creature, but on the whole she thought it would be quite as safe to stay with it as to go after that savage Queen: so she waited.

The Gryphon sat up and rubbed its eyes: then it watched the Queen till she was out of sight: then it chuckled.

`Why, SHE,' said the Gryphon. `It's all her fancy, that: they never executes nobody, you know.

`What is his sorrow?' she asked the Gryphon, and the Gryphon answered, very nearly in the same words as before, `It's all his fancy, that: he hasn't got no sorrow, you know.

`This here young lady,' said the Gryphon, `she wants for to know your history, she do.'

These words were followed by a very long silence, broken only by an occasional exclamation of `Hjckrrh!' from the Gryphon, and the constant heavy sobbing of the Mock Turtle.

`You ought to be ashamed of yourself for asking such a simple question,' added the Gryphon; and then they both sat silent and looked at poor Alice, who felt ready to sink into the earth.

`Hold your tongue!' added the Gryphon, before Alice could speak again.

`Well, then,' the Gryphon went on, `if you don't know what to uglify is, you ARE a simpleton.'