Sphinx

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. In Egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion. The awful ruins of the days of old . . . Or jasper tomb, or mutilated sphinx. Shelley.

2. On Greek art and mythology, a she-monster, usually represented as having the winged body of a lion, and the face and breast of a young woman.

3. Hence: A person of enigmatical character and purposes, especially in politics and diplomacy.

4. Any one of numerous species of large moths of the family Sphingidæ; -- called also hawk moth.

5. The Guinea, or sphinx, baboon (Cynocephalus sphinx). Sphinx baboon (Zoöl.), a large West African baboon (Cynocephalus sphinx), often kept in menageries. -- Sphinx moth. (Zoöl.) Same as Sphinx, 3.