epimacus

plural epimacuses

1. rareSynonym of opinicus.

   The Opinicus, or Epimacus / This creature appears to be a variety of the griffin family.

   1906, John Vinycomb, Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art with Special Reference to Their Use in British Heraldry, Chapman and Hall, Limited, […], page 162

   5 more examples

   Supporters 2 Epimacus’s, the Necks purfled and the ſlip of their Bellies Or, Beaked Sable and Wings extending upward gules.

   1708, A New View of London: or, An Ample Account of That City, in Eight Sections. […], volume II, London: […] John Nicholson […], and Robert Knaplock […], page 613, column 2

   Here are a great collection of antique gems in intaglio; a canopus of agate, an epimacus of chalcedony; a head of Tiberius of one ſingle turquoiſe as large as a hen’s egg, a very great curioſity: […]

   1770 December 28, [Anna, Lady Miller], “Letter XXIX.”, in Letters from Italy, Describing the Manners, Customs, Antiquities, Paintings, &c. of That Country, in the Years mdcclxx and mdcclxxi, to a Friend Residing in France, by an English Woman, volume II, London: […] Edward and Charles Dilly, published 1776, pages 117–118

   It would be a very interesting but a lengthy task to trace out the origin and history of the various traditional monsters, such as the basilisk, the gorgon, the cockatrice, the salamander, and the epimacus, which have come into European legend and belief, and to give some account of the special deadly qualities of each.

   1910, Ray Lankester, “The Dragon: A Fancy or a Fact”, in Science from an Easy Chair, London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. […], page 125

   Thus were born from credulity, fancy and fertile imagination, in successive ages, dragons, medusas, basilisks, salamanders, gorgons and unicorns, the cocatrice, the epimacus and the seductive mermaid.

   1930, Indian State Railways Magazine, page 15

   On another shield is engraved the Company’s crest—an epimacus, an imaginary beast resembling a griffin.

   1966, Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, volume 39, page 367

   Synonyms: opinicus