compsognathus

[komp-sog-nuh-thuhs]

noun

1. any bipedal carnivorous dinosaur of the genus Compsognathus, of late Jurassic age, having a slender body that reached a length of 30 inches (76 centimeters).

Word History and Origins

Origin of compsognathus¹

From New Latin (1859), from Greek kompsó(s) “elegant” + -gnathos “jawed”; -gnathous

Example Sentences

There are two editions, famously differing in how they treat the 'flippers' of Compsognathus.

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Dinosaurs ranged vastly in weight from Brachiosaurus, weighing around 30 tonnes, to Compsognathus, which was the size and weight of a chicken.

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They inhabited every corner of the world and ranged in bulk from the chicken-size Compsognathus to the 100-ton Brachiosaurus, the largest creature ever to trod the earth.

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The midget has been identified as a Compsognathus corallestris, which, loosely translated from the Greek, means "long-jawed coral dweller."

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In the succeeding Jurassic Period we have the Compsognathus, smallest of known dinosaurs, and this Ornitholestes some six feet long.

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