Word: syrinx Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Learned borrowing from Latin sȳrinx (“reed; reed pipe, panpipes”), from Ancient Greek σῦριγξ (sûrinx, “panpipes; pipe-shaped object”), from Pre-Greek. Doublet of syringe. The plural form syringes is a learned borrowing from Latin sȳringes. Pronunciation: /ˈsɪɹɪŋks/, /sɪˈɹɪnd͡ʒiːz/, /sɪˈɹɪnd͡ʒiz/, /sə-/ 1. A set of panpipes. Example: [T]he Syrinx might give occaſion to the bagpipe, by leading the vvay to its invention; for it vvas certainly very natural, both for eaſe in playing, and for the ſaving of breath, and even for the health and ſafety of the performer's lungs, to contrive a method of conveying vvind to the ſeveral pipes by means of bellovvs. Example: Pipes will I fashion of the syrinx flag, / That thou mayst always know whither I roam, / When it shall please thee in our quiet home / To listen and think of love. 2. Chiefly in the plural: a narrow channel cut in rock, especially in Ancient Egyptian burial chambers. Labels: broadly Example: And novv vvhen the people of all ſorts came flocking to the Court, in a tumultuous manner, Agathocles [grandson of Agathocles of Syracuse], taking the King vvith him, vvent and hid himſelf, in a place called Syringes, vvhich vvas a gallery or vvalk, vvhich had every vvay three vvalls and gates to paſſe, before one could come unto it. Example: The Former of theſe Tvvo Hermes [i.e., the god Thoth], vvas the Inventor of Arts and Sciences, the Latter [Siphoas], the Reſtorer and Advancer of them: the Firſt vvrote in Hieroglyphicks upon Pillars, ἐν τῆ Συριγγικῆ γῆ [in the land of Syringes] (as the learned Valeſius conjectures it ſhould be read, instead of Σηριαδικῆ.) VVhich Syringes vvhat they vvere, Am[mianus] Marcellinus vvill inſtruct us; […] 3. Any of several abnormal tube-shaped structures in the body, especially a rare, fluid-filled neuroglial cavity in the brain stem or within the spinal cord. Labels: broadly Example: The division of fluid-filled cavities, or syrinxes, into those lined with ependyma (hydromyelia) and those not so lined (syringomyelia) is probably somewhat artificial. Example: The myelin around the syrinx shows changes similar to edematous white matter, probably due to tearing of the tissues and transudation of serous fluid into them. 4. The voice organ in birds, located at or near where the trachea and the bronchi join. Labels: broadly Example: This tube is named the Windpipe, Trachea, or Aspera-arteria; […] its lower extremity, or the part at which it bifurcates, is the Lower Larynx, or the Syrinx. Besides acting as a pipe to the lungs, it is also the organ of the voice, the air in passing through it causing its membranes so to vibrate, and being so acted upon by the muscles attached to it, as to give rise to the various cries and notes emitted by birds, although the palate, the tongue, and the mandibles also operate in modifying the sounds thus produced. Example: The role of the syrinx in psittacine sound production is still under examination, and probably differs from that of songbirds. […] For species with relatively simple syringes but complex vocal behavior (such as Grey parrots), these data imply that other structures must modify syringeal output.