pterodactyl

From French ptérodactyle, a term coined by Cuvier from Ancient Greek πτερόν (pterón, “wing”) + δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”); by surface analysis, ptero- +‎ -dactyl.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌtɛɹəˈdæktl̩/, /ˌtɛɹəˈdæktɪl/

pterodactyl (plural pterodactyls)

1. A pterosaur of the genus Pterodactylus.
2. (loosely, proscribed) Any pterosaur.
   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     He described also the iguanodon and the pterodactyl - two of the first of the wonders which they had encountered.

   • 1931, Ion L. Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 97:

     Had a pterodactyl swooped down from those old-time crags, it would hardly have been out of place.

   • 1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 173:

     Now let me tell you, Brisbane mossies in the sixties were as big as pterodactyls.

• pterodactylic

• Word Family - Pterodactyl