Standard Lemma guide
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.
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noun
Any of the order †Plesiosauria of extinct marine reptiles, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
extinct marine reptile with a small head on a long neck a short tail and four paddle-shaped limbs; of the Jurassic and Cretaceous
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: plesiosaurus
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: archosaur, archosaurian, archosaurian reptile
History
Backformation of translingual Plesiosaurus, named by William Conybeare and Henry De la Beche in 1824 because plesiosaurs were more like a normal reptile than Ichthyosaurus, which had been found in the same rock strata a few years earlier. Surface derivation, plesio- + -saur.
Across languages
14 source translations are retained for this English entry.
