Etymology

peryton

P3E1R1Y4T1O1N1

Today it means: A fictional creature having the head and forelegs of a stag and the wings and hindquarters of a bird. Full definition →

First used 20th c.Spanish peritio
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The story

  1. Spanish · derived fromperitio
  2. English todayperyton

Coined by the translator Norman Thomas di Giovanni translating Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings, from Borges' invented Spanish peritio. Astrophysical use began with a paper by S. Burke-Spolaor et al. (see quotations).

First known use, by meaning

  • from 20th c. A fictional creature having the head and forelegs of a stag and the wings and hindquarters of a bird.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.