saurian

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a lizard or lizardlike reptile, especially a large or prehistoric reptile

   The explorer's sketch showed a huge saurian basking beside the swamp.

2. 2
   adj

   relating to or resembling a lizard or other reptile

   The creature had a long tail and a distinctly saurian profile.

From the zoological name Sauria + -an, influenced by French saurien. Sauria derives from Greek sauros ('lizard'). Nineteenth-century writers often used saurian broadly for lizards and large prehistoric reptiles, including animals now classified more precisely.

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