pterodactyl

Definition

A pterosaur of the genus Pterodactylus.

Etymology

From French ptérodactyle, a term coined by Cuvier from Ancient Greek πτερόν (pterón, “wing”) + δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”). By surface analysis, ptero- + -dactyl.

Example Sentences

• "He described also the iguanodon and the pterodactyl - two of the first of the wonders which they had encountered."
• "Had a pterodactyl swooped down from those old-time crags, it would hardly have been out of place."
• "Now let me tell you, Brisbane mossies in the sixties were as big as pterodactyls."

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