Dictionary

pterodactyl en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌtɛɹ.əˈdæk.tɪl/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌtɛɹ.əˈdæk.təl/ (US)

Etymology

From French ptérodactyle, a term coined by Cuvier from Ancient Greek πτερόν (pterón, “wing”) + δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”). By surface analysis, ptero- + -dactyl.

Meanings

1. (countable) A pterosaur of the genus Pterodactylus.
2. (broadly, proscribed) Any pterosaur.
   • Now let me tell you, Brisbane mossies in the sixties were as big as pterodactyls. 1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 173:
   • Had a pterodactyl swooped down from those old-time crags, it would hardly have been out of place. 1931, Ion L. Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 97:
   • He described also the iguanodon and the pterodactyl - two of the first of the wonders which they had encountered. 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

pterodactylic · pterodactyloid · pterodactyllike · pterodactylane

Relateds

polydactyly · dactylo- · dactyly · syndactyly

Translations (17)

ja テロダクティル (informal term for any pterosaur) · eo pterodaktilo (informal term for any pterosaur) · ja プテロダクティルス (informal term for any pterosaur) · es pterodáctilo (informal term for any pterosaur) · it pterodattilo (informal term for any pterosaur) · fi lentolisko (informal term for any pterosaur) · cmn 翼手龍 /翼手龙 (informal term for any pterosaur) · pl pterodaktyl (informal term for any pterosaur) · fr ptérodactyle (informal term for any pterosaur) · el πτεροδάκτυλος (informal term for any pterosaur) · sw pterodaktilo (informal term for any pterosaur) · haw peterodaketila (informal term for any pterosaur) · pt pterodáctilo (informal term for any pterosaur) · ca pterodàctil (informal term for any pterosaur) · de Pterodaktylus (informal term for any pterosaur) · ru птерода́ктиль (informal term for any pterosaur) · sv flygödla (informal term for any pterosaur)

wikipedia: Georges Cuvier