brontosaurus
UK[ˌbrɒn.təˈsɔː.rəs]US[ˌbrɑːn.t̬əˈsɔːr.əs]
n
A very large herbivorous dinosaur with a long neck and tail and a small head.
Morpheme Breakdown
bronto
saurus
bronto
thunder
saurus
lizard
Etymology
The name Brontosaurus was coined in 1879 by the American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. It is a direct borrowing from scientific Latin, constructed from two ancient Greek roots. The literal meaning, "thunder lizard", was chosen to evoke the immense size and presumably earth-shaking footsteps of this colossal dinosaur. This name reflects the 19th-century practice of using descriptive classical roots to create evocative and memorable taxonomic labels for newly discovered prehistoric creatures.
Analysis
Structure: bronto (thunder) + saurus (lizard)
'bronto' is from Greek 'bronte', meaning "thunder". 'saurus' is from Greek 'sauros', meaning "lizard" or "reptile".
Examples
The brontosaurus is one of the most iconic dinosaurs, often depicted in museums and films.
Children are fascinated by the enormous skeleton of a brontosaurus.
The theory that the brontosaurus spent much of its time in water has been largely discarded.