Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various extinct flying reptiles of the group Pterosauria, including the pterodactyls, of the Mesozoic Era, characterized by wings consisting of a membrane of skin extending from the side of the body to the very long fourth digit of the forelimb.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A member of the Pterosauria; a pterodactyl.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Paleon.) A pterodactyl.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun any of several extinct flying reptiles, of the order Pterosauria, including the pterodactyls

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an extinct reptile of the Jurassic and Cretaceous having a bird-like beak and membranous wings supported by the very long fourth digit of each forelimb

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From New Latin Pterosauria, order name : Greek pteron, feather, wing; see –pter + Greek sauros, lizard.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pterosaur.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • 1862 DANA Man. Geol. 346 Pterosaurs...or Flying Saurians.

    February 3, 2007