saurian

noun

sau·​ri·​an ˈsȯr-ē-ən How to pronounce saurian (audio)
: any of a suborder (Sauria) of reptiles including the lizards and in older classifications the crocodiles and various extinct forms (such as the dinosaurs and ichthyosaurs) that resemble lizards
saurian adjective

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web During the great Age of Reptiles when dinosaurs ruled the land, there were also fantastic saurian in the seas. Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Dec. 2020 Every saurian in the river, and a hundred or two from the Luangwa itself, therefore, came to dine on the defunct hippo. Warren Page, Field & Stream, 13 Nov. 2020 Texas' alligator population, down to just a few thousand barely a half-century ago, currently stands at as many as a half-million, with the wetland-dependent saurians documented in 123 of the state's 254 counties. Craig Hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, 24 May 2018 Owen concluded that Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and a third species called Hylaeosaurus were all united by skeletal similarities in the hip to the exclusion of other saurians of the same time. Brian Switek, Smithsonian, 8 Dec. 2017 Dozens of schlock horror movies have banked on the terror of being snaffled up by the toothy saurians, but the reptilian ambush predators of Olduvai Gorge actually did paleontologists a valuable service. Brian Switek, Smithsonian, 30 Jan. 2017 This creature was a connecting point between saurians and birds, but where to draw the line? Brian Switek, Scientific American Blog Network, 8 May 2017 The fossils were originally excavated in the 1934 and briefly described nine years later, but experts didn't realize the significance of the saurian until the new study. Brian Switek, Scientific American Blog Network, 5 May 2017 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'saurian.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

New Latin Sauria, from New Latin saurus lizard, from Greek sauros

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of saurian was in 1824

Dictionary Entries Near saurian

Cite this Entry

“Saurian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/saurian. Accessed 29 Mar. 2023.

Kids Definition

saurian

noun
sau·​ri·​an ˈsȯr-ē-ən How to pronounce saurian (audio)
: any of a group of reptiles including the lizards and in older classifications the crocodiles and various extinct forms (as the dinosaurs) that look like lizards
saurian adjective
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