Syrinx was a beautiful wood nymph who had many times attracted the attention of satyrs, and fled their advances in turn. She worshipped Artemis, the goddess of wilderness, and had like her vowed to remain a virgin for all time. Pursued by the amorous god Pan, she ran to a river’s edge and asked for assistance from the river nymphs. In answer, she was transformed into hollow water reeds that made a haunting sound when the god’s frustrated breath blew across them. Pan cut the reeds to fashion the first set of panpipes, which were thenceforth known as syrinx.
The word syringe was derived from this word
syringe (n.)
“narrow tube for injecting a stream of liquid,” early 15c. (earlier suringa, late 14c.), from Late Latin syringa, from Greek syringa, accusative of syrinx “tube, hole, channel, shepherd’s pipe,” related to syrizein “to pipe, whistle, hiss,” from PIE root *swer- (see susurration). Originally a catheter for irrigating wounds; the application to hypodermic needles is from 1884. Related: Syringeal.
“a whispering, a murmur,” c. 1400, susurracioun, from Latin susurrationem (nominative susurratio), noun of action from past-participle stem of susurrare “to hum, murmur,” from susurrus “a murmur, whisper.” This is held to be a reduplication of a PIE imitative *swer- “to buzz, whisper” (source also of Sanskrit svarati “sounds, resounds,” Greek syrinx “flute,” Latin surdus “dull, mute,” Old Church Slavonic svirati “to whistle,” Lithuanian surma “pipe, shawm,” German schwirren “to buzz,” Old English swearm “a swarm”).
tubular instrument, c. 1600, the thing itself known from 14c. in English, from Late Latin syrinx, from Greek syrinx “shepherd’s pipe” (see syringe). Used of vocal organs of birds from 1872.
- Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of syringe.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/syringe. Accessed 13 April, 2023.
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