Word.ws English Dictionary

ankh

UK/æŋk//ɑ(ː)ŋk/

ankh noun: a cross shaped like a T with a loop at the top, the Egyptian hieroglyph representing the Egyptian triliteral ꜥnḫ (“life”) and often used as an amulet or charm for this concept.

ankh: a cross shaped like a T with a loop at the top, the Egyptian hieroglyph representing the Egyptian...
Image: AmosWolfe, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

ankh (plural ankhs)

  1. A cross shaped like a T with a loop at the top, the Egyptian hieroglyph representing the Egyptian triliteral ꜥnḫ (“life”) and often used as an amulet or charm for this concept.
    • On temple wall paintings, the ankh is often seen being carried by gods who hold it up to the nose of the pharaoh. This gesture symbolizes the offering of the "breath of life" or eternity. Sometimes the pharaoh is also depicted with a stream of water in the form of ankhs being poured over him during...1994, Mira Bartok, Christine Ronan, Ancient Egypt and Nubia, page 11
    • The ankh combines the male and female sexual symbols: a female oval surmounting a male cross. It was also called the Key of the Nile, and was said to represent the sacred marriage between the God and Goddess which took place each year at the source of the Nile before the river flooded. Egyptians...2001, Anna Franklin, Paul Mason, Lammas: Celebrating Fruits of the First Harvest, page 245
  2. A tau cross.

ankh meaning in Arabic

ankh in Arabic

cross shaped like a T with a loop at the top
عَنْخ ʕanḵ

Examples of ankh in a sentence

  • On temple wall paintings, the ankh is often seen being carried by gods who hold it up to the nose of the pharaoh.1994, Mira Bartok, Christine Ronan, Ancient Egypt and Nubia, page 11:
  • The ankh combines the male and female sexual symbols: a female oval surmounting a male cross.2001, Anna Franklin, Paul Mason, Lammas: Celebrating Fruits of the First Harvest, page 245:
  • Now, the ankh that Thoth always held hovered in the air between Sekhmet and the Magus, and both fixed their gaze upon it.2013, Gordon Strong, Windleroot, page 125:

Synonyms of ankh

Forms of ankh

pluralankhs
alternative formonch

Origin of ankh

From Egyptian anx-Z1 (ꜥnḫ, “life, to live, symbol for life”).

Words that rhyme with ankh

34 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about ankh

What does ankh mean?
Ankh means a cross shaped like a T with a loop at the top, the Egyptian hieroglyph representing the Egyptian triliteral ꜥnḫ (“life”) and often used as an amulet or charm for this concept.
What is ankh in Arabic?
Ankh in Arabic is عَنْخ (ʕanḵ). See Ankh meaning in Arabic.
How do you use ankh in a sentence?
On temple wall paintings, the ankh is often seen being carried by gods who hold it up to the nose of the pharaoh.
What part of speech is ankh?
Ankh is a noun.
How do you pronounce ankh?
Ankh is pronounced /æŋk/ (UK).
What is the plural of ankh?
The plural of ankh is ankhs.

Words near ankh in the dictionary

  1. ankeritic
  2. ankeritization
  3. ankeritized
  4. ankers
  5. Ankerson
  6. ankh
  7. ankhs
  8. ankhus
  9. ankhuses
  10. Ankify
  11. Ankileng

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ankh (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ankh.ogg.

Cite this entry: “ankh.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ankh. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.