Standard Lemma guide

brontosaurus

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: B R AO2 N T AH0 S AO1 R AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: B R AO2 N AH0 S AO1 R AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of the genus †Brontosaurus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs with whip-like tails, which lived in present-day United States during the Late Jurassic period.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Near-synonym: thunder lizard (can denote a brontosaurus or an apatosaurus)

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: brontosaur, thunder lizard

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sauropod, dinosaur, reptile, vertebrate, animal, organism, creature

2

noun

Meaning 2

huge quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur common in North America in the late Jurassic

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: apatosaur, apatosaurus, brontosaur, thunder lizard, Apatosaurus excelsus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sauropod, sauropod dinosaur

History

Etymology

From New Latin, from Ancient Greek roots; by surface analysis, bronto- + -saurus (“thunder lizard”), according to the notion that its massive size must have made its footsteps shake the ground.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Erzya: пургинеметьказ (purginemeťkaz) — †Brontosaurus
  • Estonian: brontosaurus — †Brontosaurus
  • Finnish: brontosaurus — †Brontosaurus
  • French: brontosaure — †Brontosaurus
  • German: Brontosaurier — †Brontosaurus
  • German: Brontosaurus — †Brontosaurus
  • Greek: βροντόσαυρος (vrontósavros) — †Brontosaurus
  • Ido: brontosauro — †Brontosaurus
  • Italian: brontosauro — †Brontosaurus
  • Portuguese: brontossauro — †Brontosaurus
  • Russian: бронтоза́вр (brontozávr) — †Brontosaurus