dinosaur

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromδεινός“terrible, awesome, mighty, fearfully great”
2. English todaydinosaur

From Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós, “terrible, awesome, mighty, fearfully great”) + σαῦρος (saûros, “lizard, reptile”). Coined as Dinosaur(s) and Dinosauria by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1841/1842.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from c. 1840 Those animals of the clade Dinosauria that existed during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and are now extinct.