Etymology

iguanodon

I1G2U1A1N1O1D2O1N1

Today it means: Any large dinosaur of the genus †Iguanodon, of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Full definition →

taxonomic name Iguanodon ← Spanish iguana ← Taíno *iwana
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The story

  1. Taíno · derived from*iwana
  2. Spanish · derived fromiguana
  3. taxonomic name · learned borrowing fromIguanodon
  4. English todayiguanodon

Learned borrowing from taxonomic name Iguanodon, from Spanish iguana (from Taíno *iwana) + translingual -odon.

Words from the same roots

Spanishiguana all →

iguana

Taíno*iwana all →

iguana

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.