syrinx

Everyday

1. (science) The syrinx is the voice organ of a bird, deep in its chest where the windpipe splits; it lets birds sing. tree →
2. A syrinx is a set of panpipes, a simple instrument of reed tubes of different lengths that you blow across. tree →
3. (Greek myth) Syrinx was a nymph who, running from the god Pan, was turned into reeds, from which Pan made his pipes. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons, birds sing with the syrinx, not with vocal cords like people. In The Wind in the Willows, in «The Piper at the Gates of Dawn», Rat and Mole hear the music of Pan's pipes on an island. The word «syringe» comes from the same Greek word for a tube or pipe.

Examples

• A songbird makes its song with its syrinx. tree →
• Some birds can sing two notes at once using their syrinx. tree →
• The shepherd played a tune on his syrinx. tree →
• Pan made his pipes from the reeds that had been Syrinx. tree →
• Rat and Mole heard the far-off music of the pipes. tree →
• A syrinx is made of reeds of different lengths. tree →

Note

Pronounced SIRR-inks. Plural «syrinxes» or «syringes». In the myth it is a name, so it gets a capital letter: Syrinx.