amphisbaena means A mythical serpent having a head at each end of its body, able to move in either direction.
amphisbaena is pronounced /æmfɪsˈbiːnə/.
Why “amphisbaena” is a great word
A mythical serpent or a genus of limbless lizards, both characterized by possessing a head at each end of its body. Its name derives from Latin amphisbaena, from Ancient Greek ἀμφίσβαινα (amphísbaina), from ἀμφίς (amphís, “both ways”) + βαίνω (baínō, “to go”), first attested in Middle English before 1398. Unlike the hydra, which multiplies heads chaotically from a single wound, or the generic 'worm lizard,' a zoological term for the broader order of burrowing reptiles, the amphisbaena is a perfect, symmetrical paradox of intent. It is the blind snake inching backward through Saharan sand with identical hunger at both ends, the medieval bestiary's warning against indecision made flesh, and the quiet, ancient pulse of a creature that moves equally toward or away from the light—life persisting in a loop, endlessly beginning at both ends.
Etymology
From Latin amphisbaena, from Ancient Greek ἀμφίσβαινα (amphísbaina, from ἀμφίς (amphís, “both ways”) + βαίνω (baínō, “to go”)).
noun
- A mythical serpent having a head at each end of its body, able to move in either direction.e.g.“1971: What do you call that animal that goes backward and forward, head at each end? —'Amphisbaena'. A kind of lizard. It doesn't exist. — Anthony Burgess, M/F (Penguin 2004, p. 109)”
- A member of a genus of lizards, native to the Americas, having extremities which are very similar.
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