Test Your Vocabulary

Take Our 10-Question Quiz

Name That Thing

Take our visual vocab quiz

Test Your Knowledge »

True or False?

A quick quiz about stuff worth knowing

Take It Now »

Join Us on FB & Twitter

Get the Word of the Day and More

Facebook | Twitter

archaeopteryx


ar·chae·op·ter·yx

noun \ˌär-kē-ˈäp-tə-riks\

Definition of ARCHAEOPTERYX

: a primitive crow-sized bird (genus Archaeopteryx) of the Upper Jurassic period of Europe having reptilian characteristics (as teeth and a long bony tail)

Origin of ARCHAEOPTERYX

New Latin, from archae- + Greek pteryx wing; akin to Greek pteron wing — more at feather
First Known Use: 1859

Browse

Next Word in the Dictionary: archaeornis
Previous Word in the Dictionary: Archaeopterygiformes
All Words Near: archaeopteryx

Seen & Heard

What made you want to look up archaeopteryx? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).