ankylosaurus
/ˌæŋkəloʊˈsɔːɹəs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.36 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Ankylosaurus magniventris, a large herbivorous dinosaur of the Cretaceous period notable for its heavy armor and clublike tail.
Etymology
From taxonomic name Ankylosaurus, from ankylo- + -saurus, from Ancient Greek ἀγκύλος (ankúlos, “crooked”) + New Latin -saurus, from Ancient Greek σαῦρος (saûros, “lizard”). The word was coined in 1908 without explanation by Barnum Brown and may refer to his mistaken belief that its back was sharply bent in a manner similar to the stegosaurus or to his attention to the fusion of his specimens' rear ribs to their vertebrae, a condition medically known as ankylosis.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌæŋkəloʊˈsɔːɹəs/
- British English: /ˌæŋkɪləʊˈsɔərəs/