echidna

[ ih-kid-nuh ]

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.

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

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

How to use echidna in a sentence

The echidnas are exceedingly restless in confinement, and constantly endeavour by burrowing to effect their escape.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 9 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for echidna

echidna

/ (ɪˈkɪdnə) /

nounplural -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 termites: Also called: spiny anteater

Origin of 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

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