cynodont

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noun

Any of several small carnivorous synapsids in the clade Cynodontia, ancestral to mammals and extinct close relatives.

OriginAncient Greek κύων →
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Meanings

nouncynodont (plural cynodonts)

plural cynodonts

  1. biologyAny of several small carnivorous synapsids in the clade Cynodontia, ancestral to mammals and extinct close relatives.

    The Triassic immediately followed a devastating mass extinction, and the cynodonts diversified in its aftermath in much the same way mammals did in the Paleocene.

    2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherlands, Penguin, published 2023, page 160

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
cynodontian

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekκύων“dog”
  2. Englishcynodont

From cyno- + -odont, from Ancient Greek κύων (kúōn, “dog”) and ὀδόντος (odóntos), genitive singular of ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth, tusk”).

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish kynodontti
  • kynodonttizoology
Italian cinodonto
  • cinodontozoology
Malay kinodon
  • kinodonzoology
Russian цинодо́нт
  • цинодо́нт (cinodónt)zoology
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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