Word of the Day

: October 27, 2008

manticore

noun MAN-tih-kor

What It Means

: a legendary animal with the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a dragon or scorpion

manticore in Context

The book, a collection of fantastic tales, has on its cover a vivid illustration of a wild-eyed manticore chasing a hunter.

Did You Know?

A mythical creature of ancient fables, the manticore keeps company with the better-known unicorn, dragon, and griffin. Descriptions of the manticore's features sometimes differ (some accounts mention porcupine quills or poisonous spikes, for example; others depict the tail as having a serpent's head), but the animal is by all accounts a dreadful beast. The word "manticore" came to English through Greek and Latin, and is probably ultimately of Iranian origin. Etymologists think it is related to an Old Persian word for "man-eater."