plesiosaurus (n.)

extinct gigantic long-necked marine reptile, 1825, from Modern Latin Pleisiosaurus (1821), coined by English paleontologist William Daniel Conybeare (1787-1857) from Greek plēsios "near" (related to pelas "near, nearby," and probably from PIE *pelh- "to approach") + sauros "lizard" (see -saurus). It was one of the earliest "antediluvian" reptile fossils discovered in the scientific age and was so called for being more like a modern lizard than the ichthyosaur fossils that had been found a few years earlier in the same rock in England.

also from 1825

Entries linking to plesiosaurus

-saurus

element used in forming dinosaur names, from Latinized form of Greek sauros "lizard," a word of unknown origin; possibly related to saulos "twisting, wavering."

Trends of plesiosaurus

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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dwell

Old English dwellan "to lead into error, deceive, mislead," related to dwelian "to be led into error, go wrong in belief or judgment," from Proto-Germanic *dwaljana "to delay, hesitate," *dwelana "go astray" (source also of Old Norse dvelja "to retard, delay," Danish dvæle “to li

adamant

late 14c., "hard, unbreakable," from adamant (n.). The figurative sense of "unshakeable" (in belief, etc.) is by 1670s. Related: Adamantly; adamance...."a very hard stone," mid-14c., adamant, adamaunt, from Old French adamant "diamond; magnet" or directly from Latin adamantem (no

coordinate

1640s, "of the same order, belonging to the same rank or degree," from Medieval Latin coordinatus, past participle of coordinare "to set in order, arrange," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see com-) + ordinatio "arrangement," from ordo "row, rank, series, arrangeme

pine

"coniferous tree, tree of the genus Pinus," Old English pin (in compounds), from Old French pin and directly from Latin pinus "pine, pine-tree, fir-tree," which is perhaps from a PIE *pi-nu-, from root *peie- "to be fat, swell" (see fat (adj.)). If so, the tree's name would be a

laconic

"concise, abrupt," 1580s, literally "of or pertaining to the region around ancient Sparta" in Greece, probably via Latin Laconicus "of Laconia," from Greek Lakonikos "Laconian, of Laconia," adjective from Lakon "person from Lakonia," the district around Sparta in southern Greece

connotation

early 15c., "a concommitant symptom;" 1530s, "a secondary signification, that which is included in the meaning of a word besides its primary denotation," from Medieval Latin connotationem (nominative connotatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of connotare "signify in a

text

late 14c., "wording of anything written," from Old French texte, Old North French tixte "text, book; Gospels" (12c.), from Medieval Latin textus "the Scriptures, text, treatise," in Late Latin "written account, content, characters used in a document," from Latin textus "style or

jeopardy

late 14c., jupartie , ioparde, etc., "danger, risk;" earlier "a cunning plan, a stratagem" (c. 1300), from or based on Old French jeu parti "a lost game," more correctly "a divided game, game with even chances" (hence "uncertainty"). The sense perhaps developed in Anglo-French. T

nation

c. 1300, nacioun, "a race of people, large group of people with common ancestry and language," from Old French nacion "birth, rank; descendants, relatives; country, homeland" (12c.) and directly from Latin nationem (nominative natio) "birth, origin; breed, stock, kind, species; r

banter

"attack with good-humored jokes and jests," 1670s, origin uncertain; said by Swift to be a word from London street slang. Related: Bantered; bantering. The noun, "good-humored ridicule," is from 1680s. The third refinement observable in the letter I send you, consists in the cho

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updated on July 11, 2020

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Dictionary entries near plesiosaurus

plenum

pleo-

pleomorphic

pleonasm

pleonastic

plesiosaurus

plethora

*pleu-

pleura

pleural

pleurisy