dinosaur

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English

Bones of a Dinosaur.

Alternative forms

Etymology

New Latin dīnosaurus, from Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós, “terrible, awesome, mighty, fearfully great”) + σαῦρος (saûros, “lizard, reptile”). Coined by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1842.

Pronunciation

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Noun

dinosaur (plural dinosaurs)

  1. In scientific usage, any of the animals belonging to the clade Dinosauria, especially those that existed during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and are now extinct. [from c. 1840]
  2. In non-scientific usage, any non-avian dinosaur.
  3. (proscribed) Any extinct reptile, not necessarily belonging to Dinosauria, that existed between about 230 million and 65 million years ago.
  4. (figuratively, colloquial) A person or organisation that is very old, has very old-fashioned views, or is not willing to change and adapt.
  5. (figuratively, colloquial) Anything no longer in common use or practice.

Usage notes

Many animals commonly described as dinosaurs do not belong to Dinosauria, and are not true dinosaurs. These include pterosaurs, ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. Describing these as dinosaurs is frowned upon in scientific writing but persists in the media and in everyday speech.

Conversely, not all members of Dinosauria became extinct in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Those that survived were the ancestors of modern birds, which therefore also belong to Dinosauria. However, birds are not usually described as dinosaurs, except in some popular science writing.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

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Translations to be checked

Further reading

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós) + σαῦρος (saûros).

Noun

dinosaur m (definite singular dinosauren, indefinite plural dinosaurer, definite plural dinosaurene)

  1. a dinosaur (extinct reptile)

References

Further reading

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós) + σαῦρος (saûros).

Noun

dinosaur m (definite singular dinosauren, indefinite plural dinosaurar, definite plural dinosaurane)

  1. a dinosaur (extinct reptile)

References

Further reading

Scots

Noun

dinosaur (plural dinosaurs)

  1. a dinosaur (extinct reptile)

Further reading

Volapük

Pronunciation

Noun

dinosaur (nominative plural dinosaurs)

  1. dinosaur

Declension

declension of dinosaur
singular plural
nominative dinosaur dinosaurs
genitive dinosaura dinosauras
dative dinosaure dinosaures
accusative dinosauri dinosauris
vocative 1 o dinosaur! o dinosaurs!
predicative 2 dinosauru dinosaurus
  • 1 status as a case is disputed
  • 2 in later, non-classical Volapük only

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Terms derived from "dinosaur"

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