Merlion

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: en, /ˈməːˌlʌɪən/
• GA IPA: en, /ˈmɚˌlaɪən/
• Singapore English IPA: en, /məˈlʌɪən/, /ˈmɜːˌlʌɪən/
• Hyphenation: en + mer + li + on

- + mer + lion; sense 1 promoted by the Singapore Tourism Board as the name of a statue installed at the mouth of the Singapore River on 15 September 1972.

Alternative forms

• (national symbol of Singapore) Merlion

Full definition of merlion

Noun

1. (Singapore) Often Merlion: a symbolic creature having the head of a lion and the body of a fish, which is a national symbol of Singapore; an image, statue, or other depiction of this creature. from 1970s
• 2002, Can-Seng Ooi, Cultural Tourism and Tourism Cultures: The Business of Mediating Experiences in Copenhagen and Singapore Chapter , In 1995, a second Merlion was built on the island of Sentosa. This new Merlion is actually a 37-metre high panoramic tower, from which it is possible to view mainland Singapore and the Straits of Singapore. A new "ancient legend" was created for this creature with this tower. The legend alleged that the Merlion landed on Sentosa and saved Singapore from a storm. It would save Singapore again if the island ran into trouble (according to a film in the Merlion Tower). ... Some locals are upset by this fabrication. The STB [Singapore Tourism Board] maintains that the Merlion reflects the combination of Singapore's national animal (the lion) and Singapore being an island. Many Singaporeans have come to accept this mythical creature as a quintessential symbol of Singapore. To the unaware tourists, the product was packaged in a convincing manner, with the legend, film clip, and chronotopic dimensions of when and where the Merlion supposedly visited Singapore.
• 2005, Neil Humphreys, Notes from an Even Smaller Island: Singapore through a Young Brit’s Eyes Chapter 11, Like Changi Airport or the Merlion, Singlish is something that is quintessentially Singaporean. It is a dialect that everyone speaks and understands and is something that could provide the cornerstone for a unifying cultural identity.
• 2015, Neil Humphreys, Marina Bay Sins Chapter 9, Yeah, well, he went into a tourist shop, not the one with postcards and plastic Merlions. That one ah, the one in here for the towkays and businessmen for conference centres. They sell gold-plated Merlions, Eiffel Towers and Empire State Buildings, you know.
• 2015, Wong Yoon Wah, Singathology: 50 New Works by Celebrated Singaporean Writers Chapter Metamorphosis: Temasek, And in the fourteenth century
  Because of w:Sang Nila Utama
• 2016, Karen Harper, Chasing Shadows Chapter 1, At his favorite, familiar hotel on busy Orchard Road, he paid his fare, hefted his small bag and walked past the gorgeous garden with flowers and a fountain. Under the spray of water was a statue of the so-called merlion, the mythical beast that was the symbol of the tourist industry here. Its top half was a lion and the bottom half a fish. A couple of years ago, when he'd taken a stuffed merlion home to Lexi, she'd insisted on calling it Lion King Little Mermaid from her two favorite Disney movies at that time.
2. A fictional creature of similar make-up.
• 2000, Alan Dean Foster, A Triumph of Souls, There were night penguins that emitted green light only when hunting in dark seas, and merlions whose manes were fringed with pallid lavender.

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: en, /ˈməːlɪ.É™n/
• GA IPA: en, /ˈmɚˌlɪ.É™n/
• Hyphenation: en + mer + li + on

Probably a variant of merlin,

Lexico

from , marlyon, merlion, merlone, merlyon, from , esmerillon, from , from .

Noun

1. (heraldry) (heraldic charge) A depiction of a bird similar to a house martin or swallow with stylized feet; a martlet. from late 15th c.
• 1666, John Guillim, A Display of Herauldry: Manifesting a More Easie Access to the Knowledge thereof than hath hitherto been Published by any, through the Benefit of Method; ... Chapter Section VI, Chapter I, He beareth two coats quarterly, with an InÅ¿cocheon of pretence, viz. The firÅ¿t, per bend nebulee, Or and Sable, a Lion Rampant counterchained, by the name of SympÅ¿on; The Å¿econd, Argent, a FeÅ¿Å¿e, Gules, between three Merlions, or Sparhawks, Sable, beaks and legs, Or, by the name of OneÅ¿low; ...
• 1884, Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; Comprising a Registry of Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time Chapter Dictionary of Terms Used in Heraldry, Martlet, or merlion, a fabulous bird, of constant adoption in armorials, shaped like a martin or swallow, and always drawn without legs, with short tufts of feathers instead, divided into two parts, somewhat like an erasure, and forming, as it were, thighs. This is the distinctive mark of the fourth son.
2. (rare) Alternative form of en.
• c. 1381–1382, Geoffrey Chaucer, Parlement of Foules, The gentle falcon, that with its feet distraineth
  The kingës hand; the hardy sperhawke eke,
  The quailës foe; the merlion that paineth
  Himself full oft the larkë for to seek; ...

Further reading

Anagrams