Wiktionary

dinosaur

See also: Dinosaur

English

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Bones of a dinosaur.

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈdaɪnəsɔː(ɹ)/
    Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (Canada, idle-idol split) IPA(key): /ˈdʌɪnəsɔːɹ/
  • Hyphenation: di‧no‧saur

Noun

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dinosaur (plural dinosaurs)

  1. (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]
  2. (colloquial) Any member of the clade Dinosauria other than birds.
  3. (proscribed) Any extinct reptile, not necessarily belonging to Dinosauria, that existed between about 230 million and 65 million years ago, as well as the stem-mammal Dimetrodon.
  4. (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.
  5. (figuratively, colloquial) Anything no longer in common use or practice.

Usage notes

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  • 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.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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Translations

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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

Further reading

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós) + σαῦρος (saûros).

Noun

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dinosaur m (definite singular dinosauren, indefinite plural dinosaurer, definite plural dinosaurene)

  1. a dinosaur (extinct reptile)

References

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Further reading

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós) + σαῦρος (saûros).

Noun

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dinosaur m (definite singular dinosauren, indefinite plural dinosaurar, definite plural dinosaurane)

  1. a dinosaur (extinct reptile)

References

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Further reading

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Scots

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Noun

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dinosaur (plural dinosaurs)

  1. a dinosaur (extinct reptile)

Further reading

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Volapük

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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dinosaur (nominative plural dinosaurs)

  1. dinosaur

Declension

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declension of dinosaur
singular plural
nominative dinosaur dinosaurs
genitive dinosaura dinosauras
dative dinosaure dinosaures
accusative dinosauri dinosauris
vocative 1 o dinosaur! o dinosaurs!
predicative 2 dinosauru dinosaurus
  • 1 status as a case is disputed
  • 2 in later, non-classical Volapük only

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Terms derived from "dinosaur"
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