salamander
pronunciation
How to pronounce salamander in British English:
UK [ˈsæləmændə(r)]
How to pronounce salamander in American English:
US [ˈsæləˌmændɚ]
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- Noun:
- any of various typically terrestrial amphibians that resemble lizards and that return to water only to breed
- reptilian creature supposed to live in fire
- fire iron consisting of a metal rod with a handle; used to stir a fire
Word Origin
- salamander (n.)
- mid-14c., "legendary lizard-like creature that can live in fire," from Old French salamandre "legendary fiery beast," also "cricket" (12c.), from Latin salamandra, from Greek salamandra, probably of eastern origin. The application in zoology to a tailed amphibian (known natively as an eft or newt) is first recorded 1610s. Aristotle, and especially Pliny, are responsible for the fiction of an animal that thrives in and extinguishes fires. The eft lives in damp logs and secretes a milky substance when threatened, but there is no obvious natural explanation its connection with the myth. Also used 18c. for "a woman who lives chastely in the midst of temptations" (after Addison), and "a soldier who exposes himself to fire in battle." To rub someone a salamander was a 19c. form of German student drinking toast (einem einen salamander reiben). Related: Salamandrine; salamandroid.
Example
- 1. The experiment needs to be replicated independently in other salamander species .
- 2. Incredible salamander enzyme that could one day let humans regrow organs and limbs
- 3. The salamander was last seen in 1941 , and was rediscovered by abseiling into caves deep in the forest .
- 4. Thinkers from aristotle to voltaire and charles darwin have been fascinated by salamander regeneration , though they barely understood it .
- 5. A rolling stone gathers no moss . But a salamander embryo can attract algae . Inside its tissues and cells .