ornithorhynchus

[ awr-nuh-thuh-ring-kuhs ]

/ ˌɔr nə θəˈrɪŋ kəs /

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noun

the platypus.

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Origin of ornithorhynchus

1790–1800; <New Latin: genus name, equivalent to ornitho-ornitho- + -rhynchus<Greek rhýnchos bill

Words nearby ornithorhynchus

ornithomancy, ornithophilous, ornithophily, ornithopod, ornithopter, ornithorhynchus, ornithoscopy, ornithosis, oro, orobanchaceous, orodigitofacial

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use ornithorhynchus in a sentence

Our next subject is named The Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus, and is a very singular quadruped, remarkable for its structure.
The Book of Curiosities|I. Platts
It is much more nearly paralleled in the little group of Monotremata allied to the living Ornithorhynchus.
Dragons of the Air|H. G. Seeley
Turtles have beaks, and there is one species of mammal (the ornithorhynchus) which has a bill like that of a duck.
Our Domestic Birds|John H. Robinson
Your African plant seems to be a vegetable Ornithorhynchus, and indeed much more than that.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II|Charles Darwin

In the Echidnidae, but not in Ornithorhynchus, the central portion of the acetabulum is unossified as in birds.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for ornithorhynchus

ornithorhynchus

/ (ˌɔːnɪθəʊˈrɪŋkəs) /

noun

the technical name for duck-billed platypus

Word Origin for ornithorhynchus

C19: New Latin, from ornitho- + Greek rhunkhos bill

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