Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

velociraptor

/vəˌlɒsɪˈɹæptɚ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.33 in modern English

Syllables: ve-loci-rap-tor
IPA: /vəˌlɒsɪˈɹæptɚ/

19

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

5

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A small agile dinosaur, of the genus Velociraptor, having sickle-shaped claws. It is also thought to have had a feathered coat. Fossils have been found in Late Cretaceous deposits Mongolia and China (around 75-71 mya).

noun

Also Deinonychus.

Example Sentences

"Bipedal hadrosaurs, great hulking lambeosaurs, certain rhino-like ceratopsians and relatives of the velociraptors - all large and probably able swimmers - had the greatest success."
"This is my favorite velociraptor, and that is saying a lot....That this species is sunk into Velociraptor is rather unfortunate, because the name Deinonychus Ostrom 1969a is a fine one."

Etymology

From taxonomic name Velociraptor genus name, from vēlōx (“swift”) + raptor (“thief”). The application to Deinonychus came about because Gregory S. Paul proposed that Velociraptor and Deinonychus were the same genus and this idea was taken up in the book leading to the Jurassic Park film series.

Word Breakdown

Root: Velociraptor

Inflected Forms

velociraptors (plural)

Synonyms

deinonychus

Questions

How do you pronounce velociraptor?: The recorded pronunciation is /vəˌlɒsɪˈɹæptɚ/.
What does velociraptor mean?: A small agile dinosaur, of the genus Velociraptor, having sickle-shaped claws. It is also thought to have had a feathered coat. Fossils have been found in Late Cretaceous deposits Mongolia and China (around 75-71 mya).
Where does velociraptor come from?: From taxonomic name Velociraptor genus name, from vēlōx (“swift”) + raptor (“thief”). The application to Deinonychus came about because Gregory S. Paul proposed that Velociraptor and Deinonychus were the same genus and this idea was taken up in the book leading to the Jurassic Park film series.

How to pronounce velociraptor

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “velociraptor”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/vəˌlɒsɪˈɹæptɚ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “velociraptor” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.