Word Study
hippogriff
CIDE DICTIONARY
A fabulous winged animal, half horse and half griffin. Milton. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
hippogriff, n. (also hippogryph) a mythical griffin-like creature with the body of a horse.
Etymology
F hippogriffe f. It. ippogrifo f. Gk hippos horse + It. grifo GRIFFIN
DEVIL DICTIONARY
hippogriff
n. An animal (now extinct) which was half horse and half griffin. The griffin was itself a compound creature, half lion and half eagle. The hippogriff was actually, therefore, a one-quarter eagle, which is two dollars and fifty cents in gold. The study of zoology is full of surprises.For further exploring for "hippogriff" in Webster Dictionary Online