dinosaur
pronunciation
How to pronounce dinosaur in British English:
UK [ˈdaɪnəsɔː(r)]
How to pronounce dinosaur in American English:
US [ˈdaɪnəsɔːr]
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- Noun:
- any of numerous extinct terrestrial reptiles of the Mesozoic era
Word Origin
- dinosaur
- dinosaur: [19] Dinosaur means literally ‘terrible lizard’ (something of a misnomer, since dinosaurs are not particularly closely related to modern lizards). The word was coined around 1840 from Greek deinós ‘terrible’ (which goes back to the same Indo-European base, *dwei-, as produced English dire [16]) and sauros ‘lizard’ (which occurs in its Latin form saurus in the names of specific dinosaurs, such as brontosaurus and tyrannosaurus).=> dire
- dinosaur (n.)
- 1841, coined in Modern Latin by Sir Richard Owen, from comb. form of Greek deinos "terrible" (see dire) + sauros "lizard" (see -saurus). Figurative sense of "person or institution not adapting to change" is from 1952.
Example
- 1. He opened it and pulled out the plush dinosaur .
- 2. How then would this dinosaur have moved ?
- 3. The dinosaur market is in the doldrums .
- 4. What do you think dinosaur food is like ?
- 5. Why would a dinosaur need a striped tail ?