lynx
/lɪŋks/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.06 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any of several medium-sized wild cats of the genus Lynx.
name
A faint spring constellation of the northern sky. It lies north of the constellation Cancer.
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 seemingly glowing eyes and ability to see in the dark. Doublet of onza and ounce. Displaced English los; Middle English lusk (“lynx”), from Old English lox (“lynx”) as the animal died out in Britain during the Middle Ages.