alligator

alligator
\ \ [16] The Spanish, on encountering the alligator in America, called it el lagarto ‘the lizard’. At first English adopted simply the noun (‘In this river we killed a monstrous Lagarto or Crocodile’, Job Hortop, The trauailes of an Englishman 1568), but before the end of the 16th century the Spanish definite article el had been misanalysed as part of the noun – hence, alligator. Spanish lagarto derived from Latin lacerta ‘lizard’, which, via Old French lesard, gave English lizard.
\ \ Cf.⇒ LIZARD

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Alligator — Alligators …   Wikipédia en Français

  • alligator — [ aligatɔr ] n. m. • 1663; mot angl. , altér. esp. el lagarto « le lézard » ♦ Reptile (crocodiliens) d Amérique du Nord (Floride surtout) pouvant atteindre plusieurs mètres de long. ⇒aussi caïman, crocodile. ● alligator nom masculin (mot anglais …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Alligator — Al li*ga tor, n. [Sp. el lagarto the lizard (el lagarto de Indias, the cayman or American crocodile), fr. L. lacertus, lacerta, lizard. See {Lizard}.] 1. (Zo[ o]l.) A large carnivorous reptile of the Crocodile family, peculiar to America. It has… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Alligator 2 — Alligator 2, la mutation Alligator 2, la mutation (Alligator II: The Mutation) est un film américain réalisé par Jon Hess, sorti en 1991. Sommaire 1 Synopsis 2 Fiche technique 3 Distribution …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Alligator — Sm (Krokodilart) erw. fach. (16. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus frz. alligator oder ne. alligator, diese zusammengezogen aus span. el lagarto (de los Indios), wörtlich die Echse der Indianer , aus l. lacerta f. Eidechse . Die Lautform schwankt in… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • Alligator — mississippiensis Alligator sinensis Un Aligátor es cualquier miembro de las dos especies del género Alligator que existen, el aligátor chino y el aligátor americano. Tanto el nombre castellano actual como el latino usado en la clasificación… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • alligator — [al′ə gāt΄ər] n. pl. alligators or alligator [Sp el lagarto < el, the + L lacerta, lacertus: see LIZARD] 1. any of a genus (Alligator) of large crocodilian reptiles found in tropical rivers and marshes of the U.S. and China: its snout is… …   English World dictionary

  • Alligator — Alligator, MS U.S. town in Mississippi Population (2000): 220 Housing Units (2000): 81 Land area (2000): 0.983645 sq. miles (2.547629 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.058381 sq. miles (0.151206 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.042026 sq. miles (2.698835… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Alligator, MS — U.S. town in Mississippi Population (2000): 220 Housing Units (2000): 81 Land area (2000): 0.983645 sq. miles (2.547629 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.058381 sq. miles (0.151206 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.042026 sq. miles (2.698835 sq. km) FIPS… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • alligator — al li*ga tor, v. i. & t. [Because of the resemblance to the pattern on the skin of an alligator.] to form shallow cracks in a reticulated pattern on the surface, or in a coating on the surface, of an object. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Alligātor [2] — Alligātor (A. od. Crocodilus a.), das amerikanische Krokodil, mit stumpfer Schnauze, in welcher der 4. Zahn des Unterkiefers in eine Grube des oberen paßt, u. mit halber Schwimmhaut. Lebensart u. Nahrung haben sie mit den Krokodilen gemein; das… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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