platypus

platypus
\ \ [18] The platypus’s name means literally ‘flat-footed’. It was given to it at the end of the 18th century, and is first recorded in George Shaw’s Naturalists’ Miscellany 1799. It was adapted from Greek platúpous, a compound formed from platús ‘flat’ (source of English place, plaice, and plane the tree) and poús ‘foot’ (a relative of English foot).
\ \ Cf.⇒ FOOT, PLACE, PLANE, PLATE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • platypus — 1799, from Mod.L., from Gk. platypous, lit. flat footed, from platys broad, flat (see PLACE (Cf. place) (n.)) + pous foot (see FOOT (Cf. foot)). Orig. the generic name, but, having already been given to a genus of beetles, it was in 1800 changed… …   Etymology dictionary

  • platypus — has the plural form platypuses …   Modern English usage

  • platypus — [plat′ə pəs] n. pl. platypuses or platypi [plat′ipī΄] [ModL < Gr platypous, flatfooted < platys, flat (see PLATY ) + pous, FOOT] a small, aquatic, egg laying monotreme mammal (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) of Australia and Tasmania, with webbed …   English World dictionary

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