ornithorhynchus

[ awr-nuh-thuh-ring-kuhs ]

/ ˌɔr nə θəˈrɪŋ kəs /

Save This Word!

noun

the platypus.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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, orogen

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

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