dinosaur

A2 Topic:Animals

US /ˈdaɪnəsoɹ/ UK /ˈdaɪnəsɔː(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #7600

Meanings

1

noun
A large reptile that lived millions of years ago and is now extinct.

The museum has a huge dinosaur skeleton in the main hall.
2

noun
A person or thing that is old-fashioned and unwilling to change.

Some critics call the old phone company a dinosaur in the digital age.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a person or thing that is... fossilfuddy-duddy

Word family

Forms dinosaurs

Derived forms dinosaur-burnerdinosauriandinosauricdinosaurishdinosaurlikedinosauroiddinosaurologistdinosaurologynondinosaurpedosaurpinosaur

Simplified etymology

Dinosaur was coined in 1841 from Greek elements meaning “terrible lizard.” Since the 1950s it has also been applied figuratively to a person or thing that has failed to adapt to changing times.

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.

δεινός Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Animals

External links

# dinosaur

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈdaɪnəsoɹ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈdaɪnəsɔː(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 7600

## Meanings
1. A large reptile that lived millions of years ago and is now extinct.
2. A person or thing that is old-fashioned and unwilling to change.

## Examples
- The museum has a huge dinosaur skeleton in the main hall.
- Some critics call the old phone company a dinosaur in the digital age.

## Derived Forms
- dinosaur-burner
- dinosaurian
- dinosauric
- dinosaurish
- dinosaurlike
- dinosauroid
- dinosaurologist
- dinosaurology
- nondinosaur
- pedosaur
- pinosaur

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: δεινός

## 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.

## AI Etymology
dinosaur comes 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. Current senses include A large reptile that lived millions of years ago and is now extinct and A person or thing that is old-fashioned and unwilling to change. English relatives and later formations include dinosaur-burner, dinosaurian, dinosauric.

## Topics
- Animals

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