dinosaur

American  

[dahy-nuh-sawr] / ˈdaɪ nəˌsɔr /

noun

• dinosaurs
  plural

1. 

   any chiefly terrestrial, herbivorous or carnivorous reptile of the extinct orders Saurischia and Ornithischia, from the Mesozoic Era, certain species of which are the largest known land animals.

2. something that is unwieldy in size, anachronistically outmoded, or unable to adapt to change.

   The old steel mill was a dinosaur that cost the company millions to operate.

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dinosaur British  

/ ˈdaɪnəˌsɔː /

noun

1. any extinct terrestrial reptile of the orders Saurischia and Ornithischia, many of which were of gigantic size and abundant in the Mesozoic era See also saurischian ornithischian Compare pterosaur plesiosaur

2. a person or thing that is considered to be out of date

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dinosaurian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• dinosaurs
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of dinosaur

< New Latin Dinosaurus (1841), originally a genus name. See dino-, -saur

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Explanation

If you've ever seen Jurassic Park, you know that dinosaurs were large reptilian creatures that walked the earth during the Mesozoic era that ran from 245 million to 68 million years ago and included the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. The ancient Greeks had no knowledge of dinosaurs that we know of, but they unknowingly contributed to the word dinosaur. It was cobbled together in 1841 by British scientist Sir Richard Own, using the words deinos, meaning "terrible" and sauros meaning "lizard." All are gone—at least in their original form, although it is thought they simply evolved into other, present-day animals. The word dinosaur is often used for someone who is old-fashioned or unable to adapt to modern times.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dinosaur dinosaurs

The dinosaur, named Invictibellatrix amberina, is described in a new paper in the journal Royal Society Open Science and belongs to a group of agile, two-legged carnivores called megaraptorans.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

A new species of dinosaur - a long-clawed predator the size of a large tiger - has been identified from a fossil found on the Isle of Wight more than 100 years ago.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Although the significance of these dinosaurs is only just coming to light, Zimbabwe is already taking a greater role in shedding much needed light on early dinosaur evolution.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

Photorealistic renderings of shrimp that resemble life preservers and chicken parts with the texture of dinosaur skin have elicited disgust and nausea, with an undercurrent of existential, eldritch horror.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

He liked it because the hero, Dr. Rex, was a dinosaur who hunted bad guys.

From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness

It would have eaten small dinosaurs, lizards and mammals – occupying a similar role in the food chain to the hyena today.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

They compared the fossil with skulls and brain cases from tyrannosaurs, spinosaurs, raptors and other two-legged meat-eating dinosaurs.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Megaraptors are regarded as the most mysterious of the large, meat-eating dinosaurs, as few megaraptor fossils have been found.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Although tiny by today's standards, this aquatic hunter was a heavyweight among the early mammal relatives that shared the planet with dinosaurs.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

And if there are swamps, why not cyacads and dragonflies and perhaps even dinosaurs on Venus?

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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Related Words

• antiquated
• archaic
• out-of-date
• outmoded

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