Webster's English Dictionary

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phoenix

phoe.nix \'fe--niks\ n [ME fenix, fr. OE, fr. L phoenix, fr. Gk phoinix 
   purple, crim]son, Phoenician, phoenix, date palm, fr. phoinos bloodred; 
   akin to Gk phonos murder, theinein to strike - more at DEFEND : a legendary 
   bird represented by ancient Egyptians as living five or six  centuries, 
   being consumed in fire by its own act, and rising in youthful freshness 
   from its own ashes