different between reptile vs gavial

English

Etymology

From Middle English reptil, from Old French reptile, from Late Latin r?ptile, neuter of reptilis (“creeping”), from Latin r?p? (“to creep”), from Proto-Indo-European *rep- (“to creep, slink”) (Pokorny; Watkins, 1969).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??p?ta?l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???p.ta?l/
• Rhymes: -a?l

Noun

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.

   • 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.

   • "That reptile," whispered Pott, catching Mr. Pickwick by the arm, and pointing towards the stranger. "That reptile — Slurk, of the Independent!"

   • 1847, Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, chapter XXVII:

     {...} 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!’

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:reptile

Related terms

• mammal-like reptile
• Reptilia
• reptilian
• reptilianness
• reptiliology
• reptiliologist

Translations

Adjective

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

   • 1796, Edmund Burke, Letters on a Regicide Peace

     There is also a false, reptile prudence, the result not of caution, but of fear.

   • 1797-1816, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christabel

     And dislodge their reptile souls / From the bodies and forms of men.

Synonyms

• (creeping, crawling): reptilious, creeping, crawling; reptitious (obsolete)
• (contemptible): See Thesaurus:despicable

See also

• herpetology
• Category:en:Reptiles for a list of reptiles in English
• reptile on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Peltier, peitrel, perlite

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin r?ptilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??p.til/

Noun

reptile m (plural reptiles)

1. reptile

Derived terms

• reptilien

Further reading

• “reptile” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Adjective

r?ptile

1. neuter nominative singular of r?ptilis
2. neuter accusative singular of r?ptilis
3. neuter vocative singular of r?ptilis

English

Wikispecies

Alternative forms

• gharial

Etymology

From Hindi ??????? (gha?iy?l).

Noun

gavial (plural gavials)

1. The crocodilian Gavialis gangeticus; any species of the family Gavialidae.
   • 2002, Pierre-Henri Gouyon, Jean-Pierre Henry, Jacques Arnould, Tiiu Ojasoo (translator), Gene Avatars: The Neo-Darwinian Theory of Evolution, [1997, Les avatars du gène: La théorie néodarwinienne de l'évolution], page 28,

     Cuvier had begun studying the fossils of crocodiles found near Caen and Honfleur in France. (They were, in fact, gavials, fine-jawed crocodiles that are nowadays found in India).

   • 2006, Lynn Huggins-Cooper, Ravenous Reptiles, page 19,

     Although human remains and jewelry have been found in their stomachs, gavials are not as fierce as many alligators and crocodiles.

   • 2011, Joseph T. Springer, Dennis Holley, An Introduction to Zoology: Investigating the Animal World, page 415,

     Gavials (or gharials) are found only on the northern Indian subcontinent, where most are riverine, being best adapted to calmer areas in deep fast-flowing rivers.

Usage notes

Technically, extending the definition to family Gavialidae results in including just one other extant species: the false gavial (Tomistoma schlegelii). However, the subfamily Tomistominae is often (perhaps usually) excluded from Gavialidae.

Synonyms

• (Gavialis gangeticus): fish-eating crocodile, gharial, Indian gharial
• (any species of Gavialidae): gavialid

Derived terms

• false gavial (Tomistoma schlegelii)

Related terms

• gavialid

Translations

See also

• caiman
• Gavialis

French

Noun

gavial m (plural gaviaux)

1. gavial

Romanian

Etymology

From French gavial, from Hindi ??????? (gha?iy?l, “alligator, crocodile”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?avi?al/
• Hyphenation: ga?vi?al

Noun

gavial m (plural gaviali)

1. gavial

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

From French gavial, from Hindi ??????? (gha?iy?l, “alligator, crocodile”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?bjal/, [?a???jal]
• Rhymes: -al

Noun

gavial m (plural gaviales)

1. gavial, gharial