Phoenix

UK: /ˈfiːnɪks/ US: /ˈfinɪks/ ,(fē′niks)

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Phoenix / ˈfiːnɪks/ noun

1. a city in central Arizona, capital city of the state, on the Salt River. Pop: 1 388 416 (2003 est)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

phoe•nix /ˈfinɪks/   n. [countable]

1. Mythology an imaginary bird that after a life of five or six centuries burns itself and rises from the ashes to begin a new cycle of years:
   [sometimes: Phoenix] like a phoenix rising from the ashes of his defeat.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

phoe•nix  (fē′niks), n., [gen.] Phoe•ni•cis (fē nī′sis, -nē′-) for 2.

1. Mythology (sometimes cap.) a mythical bird of great beauty fabled to live 500 or 600 years in the Arabian wilderness, to burn itself on a funeral pyre, and to rise from its ashes in the freshness of youth and live through another cycle of years: often an emblem of immortality or of reborn idealism or hope.
2. (cap.) [Astron.] a southern constellation between Hydrus and Sculptor.
3. a person or thing of peerless beauty or excellence;
   paragon.
4. a person or thing that has become renewed or restored after suffering calamity or apparent annihilation.

Also, phenix. 

• Medieval Latin; Latin as above
• Greek phoînix a mythical bird, purple-red color, Phoenician, date palm; replacing Middle English, Old English fēnix
• Latin
• bef. 900

Phoe•nix  (fē′niks), n. 

1. Mythology [Class. Myth.]
   • the brother of Cadmus and Europa, and eponymous ancestor of the Phoenicians.
   • Mythology a son of Amyntor and Cleobule who became the foster father of Achilles and who fought with the Greek forces in the Trojan War.
2. Astronomy, Place Names a city in and the capital of Arizona, in the central part. 764,911.
3. Military a 13-ft. (4 m), 989-lb. (445 kg), U.S. Navy air-to-air missile with radar guidance and a range of over 120 nautical mi.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

phoenix, phenix / ˈfiːnɪks/ noun

1. a legendary Arabian bird said to set fire to itself and rise anew from the ashes every 500 years
2. a person or thing of surpassing beauty or quality

Etymology: Old English fenix, via Latin from Greek phoinix; identical in form with Greek Phoinix Phoenician, purple