opinicus

English

“Opinicus statant.”

Noun

opinicus (plural opinici)

1. (heraldry) A heraldic imaginary creature with an eagle's head, a short tail, and sometimes wings.

   Coordinate term: griffin

   • 1847, A Glossary of Terms Used in British Heraldry: With a Chronological Table, Illustrative of Its Rise and Progress, Oxford: John Henry Parker, page 233:

     Two opinici vert, beaked sable, wings gules, support the insignia of the Plasterers’ Company.

   • 1928, Punch, page 612, column 2:

     Urcheons, bagwyns, opinici and musimons, represented statant, sejant or segreant, and in every variety of metal, colour and fur, completed an exhibition which was both boastfully heraldic and pompously powerful.

   • 1963, Julian Franklyn, Shield and Crest: An Account of the Art and Science of Heraldry, page 150:

     No blood need be shed in settling these anatomical problems, as opinici are of little importance, there being barely a dozen examples.

   • 2019, Paula Grover, The Gryphon, FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 22:

     Even when they ascend to the loftiest perch for their kind and earn the right to serve on the Council of Keythongs, the wingless ones are still not permitted the same rights as gryphons and opinici.

Synonyms

• epimacus (rare)

Further reading

• “opinicus”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.