sphinx
/sfɪŋks/noun
1
Sphinx
Greek Mythology a winged monster of Thebes, having a woman's head and a lion's body. It propounded a riddle about the three ages of man, killing those who failed to solve it, until Oedipus was successful, whereupon the Sphinx committed suicide【希腊神话】斯芬克司（底比斯的带翼怪物, 狮身女人头; 提出人的三个不同年龄段的谜语, 无法猜出者立遭杀害; 后俄狄浦斯解开谜题, 斯芬克司遂自戕）。
1.1
- an ancient Egyptian stone figure having a lion's body and a human or animal head, especially the huge statue near the Pyramids at Giza（尤指埃及吉萨金字塔附近的）狮身人（或兽）面像。
1.2
- an enigmatic or inscrutable person难于理解的人; 猜不透的人。
词源
late Middle English: via Latin from Greek Sphinx, apparently from sphingein 'draw tight'.