phoe·nix,
also phe·nix
(fḗnĭks)
[Middle English fenix, from Old English, from Old French, both from Medieval Latin fēnix, from Latin phoenix, from Greek phoinix.]
noun
- Mythology A bird in Egyptian mythology that lived in the desert for 500 years and then consumed itself by fire, later to rise renewed from its ashes.
- A person or thing of unsurpassed excellence or beauty; a paragon.
- A constellation in the Southern Hemisphere near Tucana and Sculptor.
Phoenix
- The capital and largest city of Arizona, in the south-central part of the state northwest of Tucson. Settled c. 1868, it became territorial capital in 1889 and state capital in 1912. The city is noted as a winter and health resort.