brontosaurus
[ bron-tuh-sawr-uh s ]
/ ˌbrɒn təˈsɔr əs /
noun, plural bron·to·sau·rus·es, bron·to·sau·ri [bron-tuh-sawr-ahy] /ˌbrɒn təˈsɔr aɪ/.
Origin of brontosaurus
Words nearby brontosaurus
bronco,
broncobuster,
brontide,
brontobyte,
brontosaur,
brontosaurus,
brontë,
bronx,
bronx cheer,
bronze,
bronze age
Example sentences from the Web for brontosaurus
British Dictionary definitions for brontosaurus
brontosaurus
brontosaur (ˈbrɒntəˌsɔː)
/ (ˌbrɒntəˈsɔːrəs) /
noun
any very large herbivorous quadrupedal dinosaur of the genus Apatosaurus, common in North America during Jurassic times, having a long neck and long tail: suborder Sauropoda (sauropods)
Word Origin for brontosaurus
C19: from New Latin, from Greek
brontē thunder +
sauros lizard
Scientific definitions for brontosaurus
brontosaurus
[ brŏn′tə-sôr′əs ]
An earlier name for apatosaurus.
Word History
Take a little deception, add a little excitement, stir them with a century-long mistake, and you have the mystery of the brontosaurus. Specifically, you have the mystery of its name. For 100 years this 70-foot-long, 30-ton vegetarian giant had two names. This case of double identity began in 1877, when bones of a large dinosaur were discovered. The creature was dubbed apatosaurus, a name that meant deceptive lizard or unreal lizard. Two years later, bones of a larger dinosaur were found, and in all the excitement, scientists named it brontosaurus or thunder lizard. This name stuck until scientists decided it was all a mistake-the two sets of bones actually belonged to the same type of dinosaur. Since it is a rule in taxonomy that the first name given to a newly discovered organism is the one that must be used, scientists have had to use the term apatosaurus. But thunder lizard had found a lot of popular appeal, and many people still prefer to call the beast brontosaurus.