different between reptilian vs reptile

English

Etymology

From reptile +? -ian, replacing earlier reptilious and adjectival reptile.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ep?t?li?n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??p?t?lj?n/, /??p?t?li?n/

Adjective

reptilian (comparative more reptilian, superlative most reptilian)

1. (zoology) Of or relating to the members of the class Reptilia.
2. Reptilelike.
3. (figuratively) Unthinking, low, base, contemptible.
4. (figuratively) Cold-blooded, treacherous, unavoidably selfish and hostile.

Synonyms

• (or or relating to members of Reptilia): reptilious; reptitious (obsolete)
• (like a reptile): See reptilelike
• (contemptible): See Thesaurus:despicable
• (cold-blooded): See cold-blooded

Derived terms

• reptilian brain

Translations

Noun

reptilian (plural reptilians)

1. A reptilian animal: a reptile.
2. (figuratively) A reptilian person, especially (ethnic slur) a Jew.
3. (science fiction) A reptilian alien, especially (ufology, often capitalized) of a shapeshifting race purported to secretly control the world.

References

• “reptilian, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ?, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2009

Anagrams

• Tiplerian, patriline

Romanian

Etymology

From French reptilien

Adjective

reptilian m or n (feminine singular reptilian?, masculine plural reptilieni, feminine and neuter plural reptiliene)

1. reptilian

Declension

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