Amphisbaena
//æmfɪsˈbiːnə// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A mythical serpent having a head at each end of its body, able to move in either direction.
"1971: What do you call that animal that goes backward and forward, head at each end? —'Amphisbaena'. A kind of lizard. It doesn't exist. — Anthony Burgess, M/F (Penguin 2004, p. 109)"
- 2 (classical mythology) a serpent with a head at each end of its body wordnet
- 3 A member of a genus of lizards, native to the Americas, having extremities which are very similar.
Example
More examples"1971: What do you call that animal that goes backward and forward, head at each end? —'Amphisbaena'. A kind of lizard. It doesn't exist. — Anthony Burgess, M/F (Penguin 2004, p. 109)"
Etymology
From Latin amphisbaena, from Ancient Greek ἀμφίσβαινα (amphísbaina, from ἀμφίς (amphís, “both ways”) + βαίνω (baínō, “I go”)).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.