Meanings
plural brontosauruses · plural brontosauri
- Any member of the genus †Brontosaurus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs with whip-like tails, which lived in present-day United States during the Late Jurassic period.
Near-synonym: thunder lizard (can denote a brontosaurus or an apatosaurus)
Synonyms: brontosaur, thunder lizard
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny member of the genus †Brontosaurus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs with whip-like tails, which lived in present-day United States during the Late Jurassic period.
More synonyms by meaning
nounhuge quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur common in North America in the late Jurassic
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From New Latin, from Ancient Greek roots; by surface analysis, bronto- + -saurus (“thunder lizard”), according to the notion that its massive size must have made its footsteps shake the ground.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Estonian brontosaurus
- brontosaurus†Brontosaurus
Finnish brontosaurus
- brontosaurus†Brontosaurus
French brontosaure
- brontosaure†Brontosaurus
German Brontosaurier, Brontosaurus
- Brontosaurier†Brontosaurus
- Brontosaurus†Brontosaurus
Greek βροντόσαυρος
- βροντόσαυρος (vrontósavros)†Brontosaurus
Italian brontosauro
- brontosauro†Brontosaurus
Portuguese brontossauro
- brontossauro†Brontosaurus
Russian бронтоза́вр
- бронтоза́вр (brontozávr)†Brontosaurus
Cite this entry
brontosaurus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brontosaurus
“brontosaurus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brontosaurus. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “brontosaurus,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brontosaurus.
Source: brontosaurus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.