Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
Pterodactyl — Pter o*dac tyl, n. [Gr. ? a wing + ? finger, toe: cf. F. pt[ e]rodactyle.] (Paleon.) An extinct flying reptile; one of the Pterosauria. See Illustration in Appendix. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
pterodactyl — 1830, from Fr. ptérodactyle (1821), from the Modern Latin genus name, from Gk. pteron wing (from PIE root *pet fly; see PETITION (Cf. petition)) + daktylos finger (see DACTYL (Cf. dactyl)) … Etymology dictionary
pterodactyl — ► NOUN ▪ a pterosaur of the late Jurassic period, with a long slender head and neck. ORIGIN from Greek pteron wing + daktulos finger … English terms dictionary
pterodactyl — [ter΄ə dak′təl] n. [< ModL Pterodactylus: see PTERO & DACTYL] 1. PTEROSAUR: now a loose usage 2. any of a suborder (Pterodactyloidea) of pterosaurs of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods; specif., any of a genus (Pterodactylus) of this… … English World dictionary
pterodactyl — UK [ˌterəʊˈdæktɪl] / US [ˌterəˈdækt(ə)l] noun [countable] Word forms pterodactyl : singular pterodactyl plural pterodactyls a flying reptile that lived millions of years ago … English dictionary
pterodactyl — pterodactylic, pterodactylous, adj. pterodactylid, adj., n. pterodactyloid, adj. /ter euh dak til/, n. any of a number of genera of flying reptiles of the extinct order Pterosauria, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, having a highly… … Universalium
pterodactyl — [19] Pterodactyl means literally ‘wing finger’. It was coined in the early 19th century, as Latin pterodactylus, from Greek pterón ‘wing’ (source of English helicopter, and descendant of the Indo European base *pet ‘fly’, which also produced… … The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins
pterodactyl — n. extinct featherless flying reptile. ♦ pterodactylian, ♦ pterodactylic, ♦ pterodactylid, ♦ pterodactylous, a. ♦ pterodactyloid, a. like a pterodactyl … Dictionary of difficult words
Pterodactyl (disambiguation) — Pterodactyl can mean: *Pterosaur, an extinct flying reptile *Pterodactyl (film), a horror film *Westland Hill Pterodactyl, a series of experimental aircraft designs starting in the 1920s *Pterodactyl Ascender, a family of U.S. designed and built… … Wikipedia
Pterodactyl Ascender — This article is about the ultralight aircraft. For the Chinese unmanned aerial vehicle, see Chengdu Pterodactyl I. Pterodactyl series … Wikipedia
