reptile

See also: Reptile, réptile, and rep-tile

EnglishEdit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English reptil, from Old French reptile, from Late Latin rēptile, neuter of reptilis (creeping), from Latin rēpō (to creep), from Proto-Indo-European *rep- (to creep, slink) (Pokorny; Watkins, 1969).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

reptile (plural reptiles)

  1. A cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia; an amniote that is neither a synapsid nor a bird.
  2. (figuratively) A mean or grovelling person.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, [], →OCLC:
      This work may, indeed, be considered as a great creation of our own; and for a little reptile of a critic to presume to find fault with any of its parts, without knowing the manner in which the whole is connected, and before he comes to the final catastrophe, is a most presumptuous absurdity.
    • 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, [], published 1837, →OCLC:
      "That reptile," whispered Pott, catching Mr. Pickwick by the arm, and pointing towards the stranger. "That reptile — Slurk, of the Independent!"
    • 1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], chapter XXVII, in Wuthering Heights, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, [], →OCLC:
      [] If I pitied you for crying and looking so very frightened, you should spurn such pity. Ellen, tell him how disgraceful this conduct is. Rise, and don’t degrade yourself into an abject reptile—don’t!

HyponymsEdit

Related termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

AdjectiveEdit

reptile (not comparable)

  1. Creeping; moving on the belly, or by means of small and short legs.
  2. Grovelling; low; vulgar.
    a reptile race or crew    reptile vices

SynonymsEdit

See alsoEdit

AnagramsEdit

FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Latin rēptilis.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

reptile m (plural reptiles)

  1. reptile

Derived termsEdit

Further readingEdit

LatinEdit

AdjectiveEdit

rēptile

  1. neuter nominative/accusative/vocative singular of rēptilis