Meanings
plural platypuses · common hypercorrect plural platypi · plural rare platypodes
- A semiaquatic monotreme from eastern Australia with a bill resembling that of a duck, that has a mole-like body, a tail resembling that of a beaver, a waterproof pelt, and flat webbed feet (Ornithorhynchus anatinus).
Victoria's Healesville Sanctuary is celebrating the births of two baby platypuses, in a major milestone. […] "They are in fact the offspring of captive-bred platypus, so this is actually the first time we've ever been able to breed from captive-bred parents," she [Paula Watson] said.
2008 March 2, “Captive platypus twins make history”, in ABC News, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2008Synonyms: duck-billed platypus, duckbill, duckmole, mallangong, tambreet, water mole
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA semiaquatic monotreme from eastern Australia with a bill resembling that of a duck, that has a mole-like body, a tail resembling that of a beaver, a waterproof pelt, and flat webbed feet (Ornithorhynchus anatinus).
More synonyms by meaning
nounsmall densely furred aquatic monotreme of Australia and Tasmania having a broad bill and tail and webbed feet; only species in the family Ornithorhynchidae
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπλατύπους“flat-footed”
- New LatinPlatypus
- Englishplatypus
From New Latin Platypus (originally a genus name already in use for a type of beetle), from Ancient Greek πλατύπους (platúpous, “flat-footed”), from πλατύς (platús, “flat”) + πούς (poús, “foot”). Piecewise doublet of flatfoot.
More words from New Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans eendbekdier
- eendbekdierOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Ancient Greek πλατύπους
- πλατύπους (platúpous)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Arabic خُلْدُ ٱلْمَاء, مِنْقَارُ ٱلْبَطّ
- خُلْدُ ٱلْمَاء (ḵuldu l-māʔ)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
- مِنْقَارُ ٱلْبَطّ (minqāru l-baṭṭ)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Basque ornitorrinko
- ornitorrinkoOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Bulgarian птицечо́вка
- птицечо́вка (pticečóvka)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Catalan ornitorinc
- ornitorincOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Chinese Mandarin 鴨嘴獸 /鸭嘴兽
- 鴨嘴獸 /鸭嘴兽 (yāzuǐshòu)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Czech ptakopysk
- ptakopyskOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Danish næbdyr
- næbdyrOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Dutch vogelbekdier
- vogelbekdierOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Esperanto ornitorinko
- ornitorinkoOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Estonian nokkloom, nokkelajas
- nokkloomOrnithorhynchus anatinus
- nokkelajasOrnithorhynchus anatinus
- ornitorünhusOrnithorhynchus anatinus
- platipusOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Finnish vesinokkaeläin
- vesinokkaeläinOrnithorhynchus anatinus
French ornithorynque
- ornithorynqueOrnithorhynchus anatinus
German Schnabeltier
- SchnabeltierOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Greek πλατύποδας
- πλατύποδας (platýpodas)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Hebrew ברווזן
- ברווזן (barvazan)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Hungarian kacsacsőrű emlős, kacsacsőrű
- kacsacsőrű emlősOrnithorhynchus anatinus
- kacsacsőrűOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Icelandic breiðnefur
- breiðnefurOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Indonesian platipus
- platipusOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Irish platapas
- platapasOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Italian ornitorinco, ornitorinchide
- ornitorincoOrnithorhynchus anatinus
- ornitorinchideOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Japanese カモノハシ
- カモノハシ (kamonohashi)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Korean 오리너구리
- 오리너구리 (orineoguri)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Latin ornithorhynchus, platypūs
- ornithorhynchusOrnithorhynchus anatinus
- platypūsOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Latvian pīļknābis
- pīļknābisOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Lithuanian ančiasnapis
- ančiasnapisOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Malay platipus
- platipusOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Norwegian Bokmål nebbdyr
- nebbdyrOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Persian نوکاردکی, ارنی ترنگ
- نوکاردکی (nôk-ordaki)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
- ارنی ترنگ (ornitorang)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Polish dziobak
- dziobakOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Portuguese ornitorrinco
- ornitorrincoOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Romanian ornitorinc
- ornitorincOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Russian утконо́с
- утконо́с (utkonós)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Scottish Gaelic platapus
- platapusOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Slovak vtákopysk
- vtákopyskOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Spanish ornitorrinco
- ornitorrincoOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Swahili kinyamadege
- kinyamadegeOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Swedish näbbdjur
- näbbdjurOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Thai ตุ่นปากเป็ด
- ตุ่นปากเป็ด (dtùn-bpàak-bpèt)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Turkish ördekburun, ornitorenk
- ördekburunOrnithorhynchus anatinus
- ornitorenkOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Ukrainian качкодзьо́б
- качкодзьо́б (kačkodzʹób)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Vietnamese thú mỏ vịt
- thú mỏ vịtOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Welsh hwyatbig
- hwyatbigOrnithorhynchus anatinus
Yiddish ענטל־שנאָבל
- ענטל־שנאָבל (entl-shnobl)Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Cite this entry
platypus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/platypus
“platypus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/platypus. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “platypus,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/platypus.
Source: platypus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.