From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
Phoenix
n 1: the state capital and largest city of Arizona; situated in a
former desert that has become a prosperous agricultural
center thanks to irrigation [syn: Phoenix, {capital of
Arizona}]
2: a large monocotyledonous genus of pinnate-leaved palms found
in Asia and Africa [syn: Phoenix, genus Phoenix]
3: a legendary Arabian bird said to periodically burn itself to
death and emerge from the ashes as a new phoenix;
according to most versions only one phoenix lived at a
time and it renewed itself every 500 years [syn:
Phoenix]
4: a constellation in the southern hemisphere near Tucana and
Sculptor [syn: Phoenix]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Phenix \Phe"nix\, n.; pl. Phenixes. [L. phoenix, Gr. foi^nix.]
[Written also {ph[oe]nix}.]
1. (Gr. Myth.) A bird fabled to exist single, to be consumed
by fire by its own act, and to rise again from its ashes.
Hence, an emblem of immortality.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Astron.) A southern constellation.
[1913 Webster]
3. A marvelous person or thing. [R.] --Latimer.
[1913 Webster]
4. A person or thing that suffered destruction or defeat and
was restored to its former state.
[PJC]
to rise like a phoenix, to resume an endeavor after an
apparently final defeat.
[PJC]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Phoenix \Ph[oe]"nix\ (f[=e]"n[i^]ks), n. [L., a fabulous bird.
See Phenix.]
1. Same as Phenix. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Bot.) [Capitalized] A genus of palms including the date
tree.
[1913 Webster]