3 ms·

> Dinosaur literally means terrible lizard, but they aren't lizards nor necessarily terrible. Em...no. it means "mighty" in the sense of "power beyond limits".

chrisseaton 7y ago
> Em...no. Em...yes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur#Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur#Etymology > The term is derived from Ancient Greek δεινός (deinos), meaning 'terrible, potent or fearfully great', and σαῦρος (sauros), meaning 'lizard or reptile'
- mulmen 7y ago
  According to wiktionary [1] mighty is a reasonable interpretation of deinos. > New Latin dīnosaurus, from Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós, “terrible, awesome, mighty, fearfully great”) + σαῦρος (saûros, “lizard, reptile”). Coined by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1842. So dinosaur can be reasonably interpreted to mean "mighty reptile". In fact the next sentence from the wikipedia page you linked suggests that was the intended meaning: > Though the taxonomic name has often been interpreted as a reference to dinosaurs' teeth, claws, and other fearsome characteristics, Owen intended it merely to evoke their size and majesty. This is consistent with the meaning of deinos: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B4%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%BD%CF%8C%CF%82#Ancient_Greek https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B4%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%BD%CF%8... [1]: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dinosaur#Etymology https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dinosaur#Etymology
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    > So dinosaur can be reasonably interpreted to mean "mighty reptile". I don’t think you understand - they aren’t reptiles, mighty or otherwise. They’re lepidosaurs, but they aren’t reptiles.
    - mulmen 7y ago
      > I don’t think you understand - they aren’t reptiles, mighty or otherwise. They’re lepidosaurs, but they aren’t reptiles. "Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur "The Lepidosauria (from Greek meaning scaled lizards) are reptiles with overlapping scales." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidosauria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidosauria In fact, according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptile it doesn't look like dinosaurs are lepidosaurs at all.
- stephen82 7y ago
  ...so you know better Greek than me, which is my native language; fascinating!

chrisseaton 7y ago

> Em...no. Em...yes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur#Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur#Etymology > The term is derived from Ancient Greek δεινός (deinos), meaning 'terrible, potent or fearfully great', and σαῦρος (sauros), meaning 'lizard or reptile'

mulmen 7y ago
According to wiktionary [1] mighty is a reasonable interpretation of deinos. > New Latin dīnosaurus, from Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós, “terrible, awesome, mighty, fearfully great”) + σαῦρος (saûros, “lizard, reptile”). Coined by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1842. So dinosaur can be reasonably interpreted to mean "mighty reptile". In fact the next sentence from the wikipedia page you linked suggests that was the intended meaning: > Though the taxonomic name has often been interpreted as a reference to dinosaurs' teeth, claws, and other fearsome characteristics, Owen intended it merely to evoke their size and majesty. This is consistent with the meaning of deinos: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B4%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%BD%CF%8C%CF%82#Ancient_Greek https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B4%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%BD%CF%8... [1]: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dinosaur#Etymology https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dinosaur#Etymology
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  > So dinosaur can be reasonably interpreted to mean "mighty reptile". I don’t think you understand - they aren’t reptiles, mighty or otherwise. They’re lepidosaurs, but they aren’t reptiles.
  - mulmen 7y ago
    > I don’t think you understand - they aren’t reptiles, mighty or otherwise. They’re lepidosaurs, but they aren’t reptiles. "Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur "The Lepidosauria (from Greek meaning scaled lizards) are reptiles with overlapping scales." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidosauria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidosauria In fact, according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptile it doesn't look like dinosaurs are lepidosaurs at all.
stephen82 7y ago
...so you know better Greek than me, which is my native language; fascinating!