Lynx
name, noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Any of several medium-sized wild cats of the genus Lynx.
- 2 short-tailed wildcats with usually tufted ears; valued for their fur wordnet
- 1 A faint spring constellation of the northern sky. It lies north of the constellation Cancer.
Example
More examples"It can take prey by force from other predators, such as wolves and lynx."
Etymology
From Middle English lynx, linx, lenx, lynce, from Latin lynx, from Ancient Greek λύγξ (lúnx), from Proto-Hellenic *lúnks, from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“white; light; bright”), because of the cat's glowing eyes and ability to see in the dark. Displaced English los; Middle English lusk (“lynx”), from Old English lox (“lynx”) as the animal died out in Britain during the Middle Ages.
From Latin lynx (“lynx”). Named by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687. The constellation is said to be so faint that one needs the eyes of a lynx to see it.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.