▪ I. lynx
(lɪŋks)
Forms: 4–5 lenx, 4–7 linx, 6–8 lynce, 6–7 lince, 4– lynx.
[a. L. lynx, lync-em (Sp., Pg., It. lince), a. Gr. λύγζ (genit. λυγκός), cogn. w. Lith. luszi-s, OHG. luhs (mod.G. luchs), OE. lox, Du. los, Sw. lo. Prob. related to Gr. λεύσσειν to see, the animal being named from its quickness of sight.]
1. An animal of any of several species of the genus Felis forming the sub-genus Lynx, having a tuft at the tip of the ear, usually a short tail, and the fur more or less spotted. The lynx of the ancients is the caracal.
With qualifying words, as banded lynx L. fasciata, bay lynx L. rufa, booted lynx L. caligata, Canada lynx = loup cervier.
| 1340, c 1375 [see b]. a 1400–50 Alexander 3573 Lebards, lesards & lenxis. 1555 Eden Decades 231 They keepe in theyr pallacces the beste cauled Linx, being fayrer then a lyon. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xiii. 96 The torne-vp fare Of Lynces, Wolues, and Leopards; as neuer borne to warre. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 415, I pass the Wars that spotted Linx's make With their fierce Rivals, for the Female's sake. 1781 Pennant Quadrupeds I. Pl. xxxii, Bay Lynx. Persian Lynx. Ibid. I. 281 Caspian Lynx. 1790 T. Bewick Hist. Quadrupeds (1824) 236 A variety is found in the inner parts of the province of New York, which is called the Bay Lynx,..its general colour is a bright bay, obscurely marked with dusky spots. 1829 J. Richardson Fauna Boreali-Amer. I. 101 Felis Canadensis Canada Lynx. Ibid. I. 104 Felis fasciata Banded Lynx. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 219/2 The Booted Lynx,..sole and posterior part of the foot..deep black. 1855 Longfellow Hiaw. xv. 95 A pouch of healing, Skin of beaver, lynx, or otter, filled with magic roots. 1855 Browning An Epistle 29 A black lynx snarled and pricked a tufted ear. |
b. With allusion to its keenness of sight.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 576 A best þat men Lynx calles, Þat may se thurgh thik stane walles. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxi. (Eugenia) 509 Wes neuir lenx þat schuttis fyre, mare fulfillit of breth & yre. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. clv, The percyng lynx; the lufar vnicorne. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V, 38 b, Vigilantly to forsee with Lincis iyes. 1598 R. Barckley Felic. Man (1631) 670 In earthly things we have Lynces eyes; but in spirituell things we are blind as beetles. 1685 Gracian's Courtier's Orac. 189 It concerns them much to be..sharp-sighted Linxes, that they may dive in truth, and discern falshood. 1818 Keats Endym. i. 123 And now, as deep into the wood as we Might mark a lynx's eye, there glimmered light. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvii. v. (1872) VII. 50 Half of the Prussian Force, lie, vigilant as lynxes, blockading here. |
2. The fur of the lynx.
| 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 221/2 The European and northern Asiatic Lynxes and the Canadian Lynx produce the great supply of furs known by the furriers under the name of lynx. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 21 Sept. 3/2 Lynx one sees about in many of the furriers'. |
3. One of the northern constellations.
| [1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Constellation.] 1798 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) II. 548/1. 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 321 The Giraffe and the Lynx, all the stars in which constellations are at most of the fourth magnitude. |
4. attrib. and
Comb.:
lynx-eye, in
quots. fig., an eye as keen as that of a lynx; so
lynx-eyed a., (of persons) having eyes like those of a lynx; keen-sighted;
lynx-like a., resembling a lynx; (of the eye, etc.) resembling that of a lynx; keen; (of actions, qualities, etc.) keen-sighted;
lynx-sharp a., sharp as that of a lynx.
| 1828 Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 199 His *lynx-eye discerns the true relations of the world and human life. 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark xvi. 166 Martinez,..to great experience in woodcraft, added a lynx eye for a Calisaya plant. |
| 1597 J. King On Jonas (1618) 129 How blind in our selues, how censorious and *lince-eied against our brethren. 1809–10 Coleridge Friend (1865) 133 The cautious balancing of comparative advantages,..the lynx-eyed watching for opportunities. 1883 19th Cent. May 874 The lynx-eyed agent of some loan society. |
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. vii. 194 Hee [God] sees all secrets, and his *Lynx-like ey..doth every Thought descry. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 218/1 The figures..have small tufts on the tips of their ears, and are otherwise inclined to be lynx-like. 1868 Milman St. Paul's xvi. 380 Lynx-like sagacity. |
| 1812 W. Tennant Anster F. ii. xlix, The Muse's *lynx-sharp eye. |
▪ II. lynx obs. pl. of
link n.