phalanx
/ˈfeɪlæŋks/FAY-langks
/ˈfeɪlæŋks/FAY-langks
Meaninga battle line
Common meaning: a tight body of troops
- phalanxa battle lineLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 854 · scan
Journey through time
- Greekφάλαγξ‘a battle line’
- Latinphalanx
- Englishmeaning shiftsa battle line → a tight body of troopsphalanx‘a tight body of troops’ · today
phalanx also in: phalanges
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek φάλαγξ ‘a battle line’.
Roots
- φάλαγξ Greek “a battle line”
Related words
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