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phoenix

Syllabification: (phoe·nix)
Pronunciation: /ˈfēniks/

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Definition of phoenix

noun

  • (in classical mythology) a unique bird that lived for five or six centuries in the Arabian desert, after this time burning itself on a funeral pyre and rising from the ashes with renewed youth to live through another cycle.
  • a person or thing regarded as uniquely remarkable in some respect.

Phrases

rise like a phoenix from the ashes

emerge renewed after apparent disaster or destruction.

Origin:

from Old French fenix, via Latin from Greek phoinix 'Phoenician, reddish purple, or phoenix'

The beginning of phoenix is spelled phoe-.

phoenix in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of phoenix in the British & World English dictionary

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