amphibian
pronunciation
How to pronounce amphibian in British English:
UK [æmˈfɪbiən]
How to pronounce amphibian in American English:
US [æmˈfɪbiən]
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- Noun:
- a flat-bottomed motor vehicle that can travel on land or water
- an airplane designed to take off and land on water
- cold-blooded vertebrate typically living on land but breeding in water; aquatic larvae undergo metamorphosis into adult form
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- Adjective:
- relating to or characteristic of animals of the class Amphibia
Word Origin
- amphibian (adj.)
- 1630s, "having two modes of existence, of doubtful nature," from Greek amphibia, neuter plural of amphibios "living a double life," from amphi- "of both kinds" (see amphi-) + bios "life" (see bio-). Formerly used by zoologists to describe all sorts of combined natures (including otters and seals), the biological sense "class of animals between fishes and reptiles that live both on land and in water" and the noun derivative both are first recorded 1835. Amphibia was used in this sense from c. 1600 and has been a zoological classification since c. 1819.
Example
- 1. They bite into the amphibian 's back and immobilize them .
- 2. The garlic toad is one of the most endangered amphibian species in thenetherlands
- 3. At first this amphibian deals with the cooler days by burying itself in the soil .
- 4. More than 40 percent of amphibian species are threatened with extinction , according to the most recent iucn red list of threatened species .
- 5. After australia brought the cane toad from hawaii to control a beetle that eats sugar cane , the amphibian spread like a plague .