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simurgh and many spelling variations (see-MOORG, see-MOURG) - n., an enormous winged creature of Persian mythology.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
That's it on the royal emblem of the Sassanian dynasty. Typically described as a peacock with the head of a dog and the claws of a lion, large enough to carry off an elephant, but always wise and benevolent. The si- part of the name is understood by folk etymology as related to Modern Persion si, thirty, as in being the size of thirty birds or having thirty colors, but the actual root is Avestan mərəγō Saēnō, the bird Saēna, or Pahlavi sin-murgh, eagle-bird, with raptor cognates in Sanskrit.
---L.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
That's it on the royal emblem of the Sassanian dynasty. Typically described as a peacock with the head of a dog and the claws of a lion, large enough to carry off an elephant, but always wise and benevolent. The si- part of the name is understood by folk etymology as related to Modern Persion si, thirty, as in being the size of thirty birds or having thirty colors, but the actual root is Avestan mərəγō Saēnō, the bird Saēna, or Pahlavi sin-murgh, eagle-bird, with raptor cognates in Sanskrit.
---L.
