lizard

liz·ard
L1I1Z10A1R1D2
Australia, British, UK, Southern, Standard/ˈlɪzəd/Australia, British, UK, Southern, Standard[ˈlɪzəd]New Zealand/ˈləzəd/New Zealand[ˈləzəd]

noun

Any reptile of the order Squamata that is not a snake or mosasaur—typically characterised by a rounded torso, a short neck with an elevated head, a long tail and four limbs, although some species are legless.

Less commonScrabble 16

Meanings

lizard1

nounlizard (plural lizards)

plural lizards

  1. Any reptile of the order Squamata that is not a snake or mosasaur—typically characterised by a rounded torso, a short neck with an elevated head, a long tail and four limbs, although some species are legless.

    When held in the hand, the lizard produces an amorous stimulus.

    1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 139
    4 more examples

    The cicale above in the lime, / And the lizards below in the grass, / Were as silent as ever old Tmolus was, / Listening to my sweet pipings.

    a. 1823 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Hymn of Pan”, in Mary W[ollstonecraft] Shelley, editor, Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley, London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John and Henry L[eigh] Hunt, […], published 1824, →OCLC, page 169

    The forms of the serpent and lizard exhibit almost every element of beauty and horror in strange combination; […]

    1851, John Ruskin, chapter XX, in The Stones of Venice, volume I (The Foundations), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, § XXX, pages 223–224

    Hooded rattlesnakes, horned toads, and lizards crawl in the dust and among the rocks.

    1895, J[ohn] W[esley] Powell, chapter I, in Canyons of the Colorado, Meadville, PA: Flood & Vincent; republished as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, New York: Dover, 1961, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 22

    Pinned against my neighbours, I could feel small hands, fleeting as lizards, fluttering lightly through my pockets in search of money, mobile, wallet.

    2009, Michela Wrong, It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle Blower
  2. attributiveLizard skin, the skin of these reptiles.

    Silver bells jingling from your black lizard boots, my baby / Silver foil to trim your wedding gown

    1990 October 28, Paul Simon, “Proof”, in The Rhythm of the Saints, Warner Bros.
  3. colloquialAn unctuous person.
  4. colloquialA coward.
  5. gamesA hand forming a "D" shape with the tips of the thumb and index finger touching (a handshape resembling a lizard), that beats paper and Spock and loses to rock and scissors in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.
  6. in compoundsA person who idly spends time in a specified place, especially a promiscuous woman.

    lounge lizard; lot lizard; beach lizard; truck stop lizard

Lizard2

proper nounthe Lizard
  1. A peninsula in southern Cornwall, England.
proper noun
  1. A village in Landewednack parish, on the peninsula near Lizard Point, Cornwall, the most southerly village in England, also known as Lizard Town (OS grid ref SW7012)

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna man who idles about in the lounges of hotels and bars in search of women who would support him

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

lizard · noun

  1. Latinlacertus
  2. Old Frenchlesard
  3. Anglo-Normanlusard
  4. Middle Englishlesarde
  5. Englishlizard

From Middle English lesarde, lisarde, from Anglo-Norman lusard, from Old French lesard (compare French lézard), from Latin lacertus, which is of obscure origin. Displaced native Middle English aske, from Old English āþexe (> modern English ask, askard).

Full word history & related roots →

Lizard · proper noun, proper noun

  1. CornishLysardh
  2. EnglishLizard

Recorded as Lisart 1086 (Domesday Book); a corruption of Cornish Lysardh (literally “high court”), influenced by lizard.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans akkedis
  • akkedisreptile
Ancient Greek σαύρα
  • σαύρα (saúra)reptile
Arabic سِحْلِيَّة, ضَبّ
  • سِحْلِيَّة (siḥliyya)reptile
  • ضَبّ (ḍabb)reptile
  • عَظَاءَة (ʕaẓāʔa)reptile
  • بُرْص (burṣ)reptile
Basque musker
  • muskerreptile
Bengali টিকটিকি
  • টিকটিকি (ṭikṭiki)reptile
Bulgarian гу́щер
  • гу́щер (gúšter)reptile
Catalan llangardaix, sargantana
  • llangardaixreptile
  • sargantanareptile
  • fardatxoreptile
Chinese Cantonese 蜥蜴, 四腳蛇 /四脚蛇
  • 蜥蜴 (sik¹ jik⁶)reptile
  • 四腳蛇 /四脚蛇 (sei³ goek³ se⁴)reptile
Chinese Mandarin 蜥蜴, 油腔滑调的人
  • 蜥蜴 (xīyì)reptile
  • 油腔滑调的人 (yóuqiānghuádiàoderén)unctuous person
Czech ještěrka, ještěr
  • ještěrkareptile
  • ještěrreptile
Danish firben, øgle
  • firbenreptile
  • øglereptile
Dutch hagedis
  • hagedisreptile
Esperanto lacerto, ĝentilaĉulo
  • lacertoreptile
  • ĝentilaĉulounctuous person
Estonian sisalik
  • sisalikreptile
Finnish lisko
  • liskoreptile
French lézard
  • lézardreptile
German Eidechse, Echse
  • Eidechsereptile
  • Echsereptile
Greek σαύρα
  • σαύρα (sávra)reptile
Hawaiian moʻo
  • moʻoreptile
Hebrew לְטָאָה, חַרְדּוֹן
  • לְטָאָה (l'ta'á)reptile
  • חַרְדּוֹן (khardón)reptile
Hindi छिपकली
  • छिपकली (chipkalī)reptile
Hungarian gyík
  • gyíkreptile
Icelandic eðla
  • eðlareptile
Indonesian kadal
  • kadalreptile
Irish earc, laghairt
  • earcreptile
  • laghairtreptile
Italian lucertola
  • lucertolareptile
Japanese 蜥蜴, トカゲ
  • 蜥蜴 (tokage)reptile
  • トカゲ (tokage)reptile
Korean 도마뱀
  • 도마뱀 (domabaem)reptile
Latin lacerta
  • lacertareptile
Latvian ķirzaka
  • ķirzakareptile
Lithuanian dri̇́ežas
  • dri̇́ežasreptile
Malay cicak
  • cicakreptile
Māori ngārara, ngaha
  • ngārarareptile
  • ngahareptile
  • mokoreptile
  • kumukumureptile
Norwegian Bokmål øgle, firfisle
  • øglereptile
  • firfislereptile
Polish jaszczurka, pochlebca
  • jaszczurkareptile
  • pochlebcaunctuous person
  • pochlebczyniunctuous person
Portuguese lagarto
  • lagartoreptile
Punjabi ਕਿਰਲੀ, کِرلی
  • ਕਿਰਲੀ (kirlī)reptile
  • کِرلی (kirlī)reptile
Romanian șopârlă
  • șopârlăreptile
Russian я́щерица, я́щерка f я́щер
  • я́щерица (jáščerica)reptile
  • я́щерка f я́щер (jáščerka)reptile
Scottish Gaelic laghairt, dearc-luachrach
  • laghairtreptile
  • dearc-luachrachreptile
Slovak jašter, jašterica
  • jašterreptile
  • jaštericareptile
Spanish lagarto, lagartija
  • lagartoreptile
  • lagartijareptile
  • chenca (tailless)reptile
Swahili mjusi
  • mjusireptile
Swedish ödla
  • ödlareptile
Tagalog butiki
  • butikireptile
Tamil பல்லி
  • பல்லி (palli)reptile
Thai กิ้งก่า
  • กิ้งก่า (gîng-gàa)reptile
Turkish kertenkele, keler
  • kertenkelereptile
  • kelerreptile
Ukrainian я́щірка
  • я́щірка (jáščirka)reptile
Urdu چِھپْکَلی
  • چِھپْکَلی (chipkalī)reptile
Vietnamese thằn lằn
  • thằn lằnreptile
Welsh madfall
  • madfallreptile
Yiddish יאַשטשערקע
  • יאַשטשערקע (yashtsherke)reptile

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with lizard

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

lizard. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lizard

MLA

“lizard.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lizard. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lizard,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lizard.

Source: lizard on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.