lizard
pronunciation
How to pronounce lizard in British English:
UK [ˈlɪzəd]
How to pronounce lizard in American English:
US [ˈlɪzərd]
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- Noun:
- relatively long-bodied reptile with usually two pairs of legs and a tapering tail
- a man who idles about in the lounges of hotels and bars in search of women who would support him
Word Origin
- lizard
- lizard: [14] Lizard goes back to Latin lacertus or lacerta, words of unknown origin. It reached English via Old French lesard. The Latin word was used for ‘muscle’ as well as ‘lizard’, perhaps because the ripple of a muscle beneath the skin reminded people of a lizard’s movement (an exactly parallel development links mouse and muscle). And in heavily disguised form, owing to a detour via Arabic, alligator is the same word.=> alligator
- lizard (n.)
- "an animal resembling a serpent, with legs added to it" [Johnson], late 14c., lusarde, from Anglo-French lusard, Old French laisarde "lizard" (Modern French lézard), from Latin lacertus (fem. lacerta) "lizard," of unknown origin, perhaps from PIE root *leq- "to bend, twist" [Klein].
Example
- 1. Neither the lizard nor the glass has any secrets .
- 2. Look at the lizard , lying on a long log .
- 3. The national team of the united arab emirates made the lizard .
- 4. These female-female couples are more stable than heterosexual couplings in related lizard species .
- 5. The tuatara looks like a lizard , but is actually a very different kind of reptile .