Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A monster having the wings, claws, and head of a griffin and the body and hindquarters of a horse.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A fabulous creature, like a griffin, but with hoofs and other parts resembling a horse, apparently invented, in imitation of Pegasus, by the romancers of the middle ages, and furnished to their heroes as a means of transportation through the air.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Myth.) A fabulous winged animal, half horse and half griffin.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun a
mythical beast , halfgriffin and halfhorse , supposedly the offspring of a griffin and afilly .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word hippogriff.
Examples
-
On closer scrutiny, we find that this creature, as fabled as the hippogriff, is just as uncertain as everyone else.
May 2008 2008
-
On closer scrutiny, we find that this creature, as fabled as the hippogriff, is just as uncertain as everyone else.
-
A hippogriff is a noble beast: In the few medieval legends when this fantastic creature makes an appearance, it is usually the pet of either a knight or a sorcerer.
-
The hippogriff is said to be an omnivore, eating either plants or meat.
-
The hippogriff is the steed that Ruggiero rides to save the naked maiden Angelica in Ariosto's epic poem Orlando Furioso.
Angelica Lost and Found by Russell Hoban - review Patrick Ness 2010
-
A hippogriff is a noble beast: In the few medieval legends when this fantastic creature makes an appearance, it is usually the pet of either a knight or a sorcerer.
-
A hippogriff is a noble beast: In the few medieval legends when this fantastic creature makes an appearance, it is usually the pet of either a knight or a sorcerer.
-
(The hippogriff is the combination of a griffin and a horse which denotes the impossible - Luis notes the Greek scholar Servius somewhat milked this by inventing the "fact" that griffins must hate horses).
SpikeMagazine.com Ben Granger 2010
-
(The hippogriff is the combination of a griffin and a horse which denotes the impossible - Luis notes the Greek scholar Servius somewhat milked this by inventing the "fact" that griffins must hate horses).
SpikeMagazine.com Ben Granger 2010
-
(The hippogriff is the combination of a griffin and a horse which denotes the impossible - Luis notes the Greek scholar Servius somewhat milked this by inventing the "fact" that griffins must hate horses).
SpikeMagazine.com Ben Granger 2010
avivamagnolia commented on the word hippogriff
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a hippogriff is a magical beast based upon the hippogriff of various mythologies. It is part eagle and part horse, and sometimes regarded as part griffon and part horse (indeed, in mythology a hippogriff is the offspring of a griffon and a mare). Depictions of the hippogriff vary; sometimes they are shown as a horse with the forequarters of a giant eagle, and sometimes as a horse with wings, an eagle's head, a mane and tail of feathers, and feathered lower legs.
January 18, 2009
avivamagnolia commented on the word hippogriff
~fabulous winged animal, half horse and half griffin.
January 18, 2009
bilby commented on the word hippogriff
"Astolpho, when he had dismissed his troops, mounted the Hippogriff, and at one flight shot over to Sardinia, thence to Corsica, thence, turning slightly to the left, hovered over Provence, and alighted in the neighborhood of Marseilles. There he did what he had been commanded to do by the holy saint; he unbridled the Hippogriff, and turned him loose to seek his own retreats, never more to be galled with saddle or bit. The horn had lost its marvellous power ever since the visit to the moon."
- Thomas Bulfinch, 'Age of Fable'.
September 19, 2009