griffin
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
-
a city in W Georgia.
-
a male given name.
noun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012noun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Other Word Forms
- griffinage noun
- griffinesque adjective
- griffinhood noun
- griffinish adjective
- griffinism noun
Etymology
Origin of griffin1
1300–50; Middle English griffoun < Middle French grifon < Latin grȳphus < Greek grȳp- (stem of grȳ́ps ) “curled, curved, having a hooked nose”
Origin of griffin2
First recorded in 1785–95; origin uncertain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Despite his books containing magical objects, talking animals and mythical griffins, he insists he is "writing about the real world through a little filter".
From BBC
On the left arm, the mythical griffin creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle appears to be fighting with a stag.
From BBC
Think animal jewelry — bridles, straps and other harness parts adorned with eagle heads, rosettes, griffins, busts of Herakles, serpents and lions, often shaped from gold.
From Los Angeles Times
A pair of sleeping lions, for instance, Irvine found in the back pages of a catalog for a Chicago statue company, and two iron griffins were hiding in the corner of an Alhambra marble shop.
From Los Angeles Times
Renaissance and Medieval pieces, and the “quality camp” or “fantasy furniture” he favored — weird and whimsical pieces embellished with mythical creatures; chairs sprouting antlers, torcheres bedecked with gargoyles, commodes atop griffin feet.
From New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
