echidna

[ ih-kid-nuh ]

/ ɪˈkɪd nə /

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noun

Also called spiny anteater. any of several insectivorous monotremes of the genera Tachyglossus, of Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea, and Zaglossus, of New Guinea, that have claws and a slender snout and are covered with coarse hair and long spines.

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Origin of echidna

<New Latin (1798), originally a genus name; Latin: serpent, Echidna a mythical creature which gave birth to the Hydra and other monsters <Greek échidna, akin to échis viper

Words nearby echidna

echelette, echelon, echeveria, Echeverría, Echeverría Álvarez, echidna, echinacea, echinate, echino-, echinococcus, echinoderm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use echidna in a sentence

In the same way a peculiar form of covering occurs in Echidna and the hedgehog.
The Foundations of the Origin of Species|Charles Darwin
Compare feathered heads in very different birds with spines in Echidna and Hedgehog.
The Foundations of the Origin of Species|Charles Darwin
With the exception of the atlas of Echidna the cervical vertebrae are without zygapophyses.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds
In the hedgehogs, porcupines and Echidna certain of the hairs are modified and greatly enlarged, forming stiff spines.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds

In Echidna the face is drawn out into a gradually tapering rostrum, formed mainly by the premaxillae, maxillae and nasals.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for echidna

echidna

/ (ɪˈkɪdnə) /

noun plural -nas or -nae (-niː)

any of the spine-covered monotreme mammals of the genera Tachyglossus of Australia and Zaglossus of New Guinea: family Tachyglossidae. They have a long snout and claws for hunting ants and termitesAlso called: spiny anteater

Word Origin for echidna

C19: from New Latin, from Latin: viper, from Greek ekhidna

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012