newt

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small semiaquatic salamander whose adults typically have a lizard-like body and flattened tail

   A newt surfaced briefly among the reeds at the edge of the pond.

Simplified etymology

Newt arose through mistaken word division when an ewt was reinterpreted as a newt. Ewt and eft were both Old English names for the animal.

From Middle English newte, created by redivision of an ewte as a newte. Ewte descended from Old English efete, 'newt or lizard.' The same kind of boundary shift produced English words such as adder and apron.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary