jynx
(dʒɪŋks)
Also 7 jyng. Pl. jynges (ˈdʒɪndʒɪz).
[a. mod.L. jynx, pl. jynges, = L. iynx, a. Gr. ἴυγξ, pl. ἴυγγες the wryneck, a bird made use of in witchcraft; hence, a charm, a spell.]
1. A bird, the wryneck (Jynx or Iynx torquilla); also called yunx.
| 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, ccxcv, Where not a Silver Iyng, or Pigeon, fell To Pay the Markman. 1706 Phillips, Jynx, the Wry-neck, or Emmet-hunter, or as some say, the Wag-tail. 1708 Phil. Trans. XXVI. 123 The Jynx or Wryneck..I first heard this year on March 29. [1845 Zoologist III. 1107 Its sharp and harsh cry, resembling a repetition of Jynx, Jynx, Jynx.] 1857 Birch Anc. Pottery (1858) I. 297 A youth or females hold a bird, supposed to be the iynx, in their hands. |
2. transf. A charm or spell.
| a 1693 Urquhart Rabelais iii. i. 23 These are the Philtres, Allurements, Jynges, Inveiglements [les philtres, iynges, et attraictz], Baits, and Enticements of Love. |
3. Name of an order of spiritual intelligences in ancient ‘Chaldaic’ philosophy.
| 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 17/2 [tr.] Then is the Intelligible Jynx; next which are the Synoches, the Empyreal, the ætherial and the Material; after the Synoches are the Teletarchs..Intelligent Jynges do themselves also under⁓stand from the Father By unspeakable Counsels being moved so as to understand. |