A griph is an obsolete term for puzzle or enigma. This word’s etymology is a puzzle itself, although it appears to trace back to Ancient Greek griphos, meaning “fishing basket.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Griph”
Here’s a word that was new to me, griff g-r-i-p-h, and it means a puzzling question, a riddle or an enigma.
And I asked around to some people who do puzzles, and they’ve never heard this word. its It’s obsolete, but I really like it. It goes all the way back to Greek, griffos, which means a fishing basket.
And it can also mean a dark saying or a riddle. And the only suggestion that I’ve found of the etymology may be that it has to do with a fishing basket or a fishing net being really intricate.
Isn’t that weird? How did you come across this? Browsing a dictionary, believe it or not. You know, there is the word riddle in English, which means, you know, a puzzle or a puzzling question.
And there’s also the word riddle in English, which is unrelated but means a sieve.
And so I was thinking, oh, does griff have to do anything with sieve?
But I never could find a connection.
But isn’t that weird? G-R-I-P-H means a mystery or an enigma?
Yes, yes, a puzzling question.
How about that?
