apteryx
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of apteryx
1805–15; < New Latin: the genus name, equivalent to Greek a- a- 6 + -pteryx, adj. use of ptéryx wing
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some of the largest vertebrae, tibiae, and femora equal in magnitude the most gigantic previously known, while others are not larger than the corresponding bones of the living apteryx.
From COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Alexander von Humboldt
I mean the apteryx, that eccentric, wingless recluse which hides itself in the scrub jungles of New Zealand.
From Concerning Animals and Other Matters by Edward Hamilton Aitken
The last of the gigantic birds were probably exterminated, like the dodo, by human agency: some small species allied to the apteryx may possibly be met with in the unexplored parts of the middle island.
From COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Alexander von Humboldt
There is the kiwi, or apteryx, which is about as large as a turkey, but only found on the West Coast.
From A First Year in Canterbury Settlement by Samuel Butler
The wing of the cassowary, emeu and apteryx has undergone complete degeneration; so much so that only a vestige of the hand remains.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
