dinosaur
See also: Dinosaur
English
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Alternative forms
- deinosaur (archaic)
- Dinosaur, dinosaurus
Etymology
From Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós, “terrible, awesome, mighty, fearfully great”) + σαῦρος (saûros, “lizard, reptile”). Coined as Dinosaur(s) and Dinosauria by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1841/1842.
Pronunciation
Noun
dinosaur (plural dinosaurs)
- (sciences) 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]
- (colloquial) Any member of the clade Dinosauria other than birds.
- (proscribed) Any extinct reptile, not necessarily belonging to Dinosauria, that existed between about 230 million and 65 million years ago.
- 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London, New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
- "Not a bird, my dear Roxton - not a bird." "A beast?" "No; a reptile - a dinosaur."
- 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 80:
- ‘Dinosaur!’ Denham exploded. ‘By the Power! A dinosaur!’
- (figuratively, colloquial) Something or someone that is very old or old-fashioned, or is not willing to change and adapt.
- 1975, Frederick P. Brooks Jr., The Mythical Man-Month, published 1995:
- [The OS/360 linkage editor] is the culmination of years of development of static overlay technique. Yet it is also the last and finest of the dinosaurs, for it belongs to a system in which multiprogramming is the normal mode and dynamic core allocation the basic assumption.
- 1999, Ron Harbin, Aaron Barker, Anthony L. Smith (lyrics and music), “What About Now”, performed by Lonestar:
- The sign in the window said for sale or trade on the last remaining dinosaur Detroit made.
- (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 and technical writing.
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
prehistoric reptile
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old-fashioned person or thing
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Norwegian Bokmål
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós) + σαῦρος (saûros).
Noun
dinosaur m (definite singular dinosauren, indefinite plural dinosaurer, definite plural dinosaurene)
- a dinosaur (extinct reptile)
References
- “dinosaur” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Further reading
- dinosaur on the Norwegian Bokmål Wikipedia.Wikipedia nb
Norwegian Nynorsk
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós) + σαῦρος (saûros).
Noun
dinosaur m (definite singular dinosauren, indefinite plural dinosaurar, definite plural dinosaurane)
- a dinosaur (extinct reptile)
References
- “dinosaur” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Further reading
- dinosaur on the Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia.Wikipedia nn
Scots
Further reading
- dinosaur on the Scots Wikipedia.Wikipedia sco
Volapük
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [di.no.sa.ˈuɾ]
Declension
declension of dinosaur
- 1 status as a case is disputed
- 2 in later, non-classical Volapük only
Hyponyms
- dinosauril
- dinosaurül
- hidinosaur
- jidinosaur
- ledinosaur
Derived terms
Terms derived from "dinosaur"
- dinosaurabid
- dinosaurabomem
- dinosaurafamül
- dinosaurafomik
- dinosaurafösil
- dinosauragrup
- dinosaurakran
- dinosauralög
- dinosauranem
- dinosauratuvöp
- dinosaur bödöfik
- dinosaurik
- dinosaur lunasärvigik
- dinosaur mitifidöl
- dinosaur planifidöl
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