Meanings
plural peridexions
- A legendary tree believed to grow in India that attracts doves and repels dragons.
1 more example
The inscription appears to represent a very rare medieval allegory for the church, found in only a very few medieval manuscripts and known as the peridexion tree. The story is that the peridexion tree was to be found only in far-off India, and that it bore the most marvellously sweet fruit that attracted birds to its branches from far and wide. However, at the base of the tree lived a dragon or serpent.
2015, Matthew Champion, chapter 17, in Medieval Graffiti: The Lost Voices of England’s Churches, London: Ebury Press, →ISBN, page 165
Origin
- Ancient Greekπεριδέξιον
- Englishperidexion
From Ancient Greek περιδέξιον (peridéxion), used in the Physiologus.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek περιδέξιον
- περιδέξιον (peridéxion)legendary tree
Cite this entry
peridexion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peridexion
“peridexion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peridexion. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “peridexion,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peridexion.
Source: peridexion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.