Phoenix

  1. Proper noun.  (mythology) A mythical firebird; especially the sacred one from ancient Egyptian mythology.
  2. Proper noun.  (constellation) A spring constellation of the southern sky, said to resemble the mythical bird. It lies north of Tucana.
  3. Proper noun.  (Greek mythology) A character in the Iliad and father of Adonis in Greek mythology or a different character in Greek mythology, brother of Europa and Cadmus.
  4. Proper noun.  The capital city of Arizona, United States.
  5. Proper noun.  A nickname sometimes used for Japan after World War II.
  6. Noun.  (mythology) A mythological bird, said to be the only one of its kind, which lives for 500 years and then dies by burning to ashes on a pyre of its own making, ignited by the sun. It then arises anew from the ashes.
  7. Noun.  (figuratively) Anything that is reborn after apparently being destroyed. Usually used as a simile.

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.