Meanings
plural plethodontids
- biologyAny of the Plethodontidae, a family of lungless salamanders.First known use 20th c.
The family of salamanders known as plethodontids are unusual in many ways.
2007 December 4, Henry Fountain, “Inveterate Wanderer: An Intercontinental Salamander Family”, in New York Times1 more example
In Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri, for example, they are—if you count them by weight—the dominant form of life, with 1400 tonnes of plethodontids lurking in the leaf litter and wetlands of its 600,000 hectares.
2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: The First 100 Million Years, Penguin, published 2019, page 127
Origin
- Ancient Greekπλῆθος“great number”
- Englishplethodontid
From scientific Latin Plethodontidae (family name), from Plethodon (genus name), from Ancient Greek πλῆθος (plêthos, “great number”) + ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
plethodontid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plethodontid
“plethodontid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plethodontid. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “plethodontid,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plethodontid.
Source: plethodontid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.