crio-=Gr. κριο-, comb. form of κριός ram: in some technical terms, as crioˈcephalousa.[Gr. κεϕαλή head], having a ram's head (said e.g. of a sphinx). criˈoceratea.[Gr. κέρας horn], akin to the genus Crioceras of fossil cephalopods, having the whorls discrete, so as to resemble a ram's horn. crioˈceratite, a fossil of the genus Crioceras, a ram's-horn ammonite. crioceraˈtitica., pertaining to, or of the nature of, a crioceratite. ˈcriophore, a statue or other representation of a figure carrying a ram (1909 in Webster); so criˈophoric, criˈophorousadjs.ˈcriosphinx, a sphinx having a ram's head, one of the three types of the Egyptian sphinx.1832G. Long Egypt.Antiq. I. x. 213 A row of crio⁓sphinxes..with a ram's head and lion's body.1847Ansted Anc. World x. 244 The shell called Crioceratite..corresponds with the Ammonite, much as the Spirula corresponds with the Nautilus.1921G. A. F. Knight Nile & Jordan xiii. 160 Criophorous sphinxes lined the avenues of Thebes and other cities.1952Jrnl.Theol.Stud. III. 90 The criophoric figures, such as those of Hermes, which anticipate later Christian representations of the Good Shepherd.
crio-/ˈkri:əʊ/combining form of Greek krios ram: see -o-.