syrinx

From Latin sȳrinx, from Ancient Greek σῦριγξ (sûrinx, “pipe, tube, channel, fistula”). Doublet of syringe.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɹɪŋks/

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syrinx (plural syrinxes or syringes)

1. A set of panpipes.
   • 1982, John Fowles, Mantissa:

     Actually, to cut a long story short, he began...well, playing with a rather different sort of pipe. Or syrinx, as we called it. He obviously thought he was alone.

   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 247:

     Inside, somebody was playing a duet on syrinx and lyre.

2. A narrow channel cut in rock, especially in ancient Egyptian tombs.
3. (ornithology, zootomy) The voice organ in birds.
   • 1999, Irene M. Pepperberg, The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots, published 2002, page 293:

     The role of the syrinx in psittacine sound production is still under examination, and probably differs from that of songbirds.

   • 2007, Gisela Kaplan, Tawny Frogmouth, page 121:

     The primary sound-producing organ in a bird is the syrinx and the secondary system aiding sound production consists of the larynx, mouth, tongue and laryngeal muscles.

   • 2010, Peter Simmons, David Young, Nerve Cells and Animal Behaviour, 3rd edition, page 247:

     The organ responsible for producing sounds during song is the syrinx, located where the trachea joins the bronchi of the two lungs (Fig. 9.14).

4. (medicine) Any of several tuboid structures, especially a rare, fluid-filled neuroglial cavity within the spinal cord or in the brain stem.

• syringo-

• syringeal
• syringomyelia
• syringobulbia

Ultimately from Latin sȳrinx, from Ancient Greek σῦριγξ (sûrinx, “pipe, tube, channel, fistula”). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

• IPA^(key): /siː.rɪŋks/

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• Hyphenation: sy‧rinx

syrinx f (plural syrinxen or syringes)

1. (ornithology) syrinx (voice organ in birds)
2. (medicine) syrinx (fluid-filled neuroglial cavity)

From Latin sȳrinx, from Ancient Greek σῦριγξ (sûrinx, “pipe, tube, channel, fistula”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈsyrinks/, [ˈs̠yriŋks̠]
• Rhymes: -yrinks
• Syllabification^(key): sy‧rinx

syrinx (rare)

1. Alternative spelling of syrinks

From the Ancient Greek σῦρῐγξ (sûrinx).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsyː.rinks/, [ˈs̠yːrɪŋks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.rinks/, [ˈsiːriŋks]
• Homophone: Sȳrinx

sȳrinx f (genitive sȳringos); third declension

1. reed, reed flute, reed pipe, pan flute, panpipe

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, normal variant).

• Catalan: xeringa, → siringa
• French: seringue
  • → English: syringe
• Italian: siringa
• Portuguese: siringe, siringa, seringa
• Spanish: siringe
• Translingual: Syringa

• 1 sȳrinx in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette: “1,535/1”
• “syrinx”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “syrinx”, in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• “syrinx”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin