Word.ws English Dictionary

griffin

/ˈɡɹɪf.ɪn/

griffin noun: a mythical creature with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle.

griffin: a mythical creature with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle
Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

griffin (plural griffins)

  1. A mythical creature with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle.
  2. A griffon vulture, a large vulture (Gyps fulvus) found in the mountainous parts of Southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor, supposed to be the "eagle" of the Bible.
  3. An English variety of apple.
  4. (India, dated) A person who has just arrived from Europe.
    • Tables were laid out in the palace, profusely covered with wines and refreshments, in the European style; old hands and griffins, fair sex and civilians, seemed all determined to enjoy themselves[…]1842, The Asiatic journal and monthly register, volume 38, page 40
  5. A cadet newly arrived in British India: half English, half Indian.
  6. A watchful guardian, especially a duenna in charge of a young woman.

Proper noun capitalized: Griffin

IPA/ˈɡɹɪfɪn/

Griffin

  1. An Irish surname, an anglicization of Ó Gríobhtha or Ó Grifín
  2. A surname from Welsh [in turn originating as a patronymic].
  3. A male given name from Welsh derived from Griffinus, a latinized form of Gruffudd.
  4. A male given name from Cornish derived from Gryffyn, of relation to the Welsh name.
  5. (rare) A female given name.
  6. A community in Saskatchewan, Canada.
  7. A rural municipality in south-east Saskatchewan, which includes the community; in full, the Rural Municipality of Griffin No. 66.
  8. A township in Pope County, Arkansas.
  9. A city, the county seat of Spalding County, Georgia, named for landowner Col. Lewis Lawrence Griffin.
  10. A former settlement in Wabash Township, Clark County, Illinois.
  11. A town in Bethel Township, Posey County, Indiana; named for postmaster Samuel Griffin.
  12. An unincorporated community in Christian County, Missouri.
  13. A suburb in the City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia; named for a family of early settlers.

griffin meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

griffin in Hindi

ग्रिफिन, ग्रिफ़िन, ग्रिफीन

griffin in Tamil

கிரிஃபின்

griffin in Marathi

ग्रिफिन, ग्रिफीन

griffin in Urdu

گریفن, گرفن
More languagesFewer languages
griffin in Bengali
ইশারা, ইঙ্গিত
griffin in Telugu
గ్రిఫిన్, గ్రిఫ్ఫిన్
griffin in Malayalam
ഗ്രിഫിൻ, ഗ്രിഫ്ഫിൻ
griffin in Kannada
ಗ್ರಿಫಿನ್, ಗ್ರಿಫ್ಫಿನ್
griffin in Punjabi
ਗ੍ਰਿਫਿਨ, ਗ੍ਰਿਫ਼ਿਨ, ਗ੍ਰਿਫੀਨ
griffin in Gujarati
ગ્રિફિન, ગ્રિફીન, ગ્રીફિન
griffin in Odia
ଗ୍ରିଫିନ୍, ଗ୍ରିଫିନ
griffin in Nepali
ग्रिफिन, ग्रिफीन
griffin in Arabic
فَتْخَاء fatḵāʔ
griffin in Malay
griffin
griffin in Indonesian
griffin
griffin in Persian
شیردال širdâl, بشکوچ baškuč

Forms of griffin

Noun
pluralgriffins
alternative formgriffon
alternative formgryphon
alternative form (obsolete)grifon
alternative form (obsolete)gryfon
Proper noun
alternative formGriffy

Plural of griffin: griffins

Origin of griffin

From Middle English griffoun, from Old French griffon, from Late Latin grȳphus, from Classical Latin grȳps, from Ancient Greek γρῡ́ψ (grū́ps).

Words formed from griffin

Phrases with griffin

Words that rhyme with griffin

Questions about griffin

What does griffin mean?
Griffin means a mythical creature with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle.
What is griffin in Hindi?
Griffin in Hindi is ग्रिफिन, ग्रिफ़िन, ग्रिफीन. See Griffin meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is griffin?
Griffin can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce griffin?
Griffin is pronounced /ˈɡɹɪf.ɪn/.
What is the plural of griffin?
The plural of griffin is griffins.

Words near griffin in the dictionary

  1. Griffeths
  2. Griffey
  3. Griffeys
  4. Griffie
  5. Griffies
  6. griffin
  7. griffinage
  8. griffiness
  9. griffinesses
  10. griffinflies
  11. griffinfly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: griffin (page history and authors); Griffin (page history and authors); griffin (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); griffin (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); griffin (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); griffin (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); griffin (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); griffin (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); griffin (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); griffin (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); griffin (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); griffin (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); griffin (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); griffin (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-griffin.wav.

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