sphinx

n. 1 (sphinx) (in greek mythology) winged monster with a woman's head and a lion's body, whose riddle oedipus guessed. 2 antiq. A ancient egyptian stone figure with a lion's body and a human or animal head.

n. In Egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion.