ENID

enid, a city and the county-seat of garfield county, oklahoma, u.s.a., about 55 m. n.w. of guthrie. pop. (1900) 3444; (1907) 10,087 (355 of negro descent); (1910) 13,799. enid is served by the st louis & san francisco, the atchison, topeka & santa fe, and the chicago, rock island & pacific railways, and by several branch lines, and is an important railway centre. it is the seat of the oklahoma christian university (1907; co-educational). enid is situated in a flourishing agricultural and stock-raising region, of which it is the commercial centre, and has various manufactures, including lumber, brick, tile and flour. natural gas was discovered near the city in 1907. enid was founded in 1893 and was chartered as a city in the same year. enigma (gr. [greek: ainigma]), a riddle or puzzle, especially a form of verse or prose composition in which the answer is concealed by means of metaphors. such were the famous riddle of the sphinx and the riddling answers of the ancient oracles. the composition of enigmas was a favourite amusement in greece and prizes were often given at banquets for the best solution of them (athen. x. 457). in france during the 17th century enigma-making became fashionable. boileau, charles riviere dufresny and j.j. rousseau did not consider it beneath their literary dignity. in 1646 the abbe charles cotier (1604-1682) published a _recueil des enigmes de ce temps_. the word is applied figuratively to anything inexplicable or difficult of understanding.