reptile

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See also: Reptile, réptile, and rep-tile

English

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Noun

reptile (plural reptiles)

  1. (informal) Any cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia that is not a bird, usually egg-laying and scaled.
  3. (zoology, scientifically speaking) Any member of Reptilia, including birds.
  4. (loosely, historical) A reptile or amphibian.
    Synonyms: herptile, herp
  5. (figuratively, dated) A mean, grovelling, loathsome or repulsive person.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A Millar, , →OCLC:
      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.
    • 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, , published 1837, →OCLC:
      "That reptile," whispered Pott, catching Mr. Pickwick by the arm, and pointing towards the stranger. "That reptile — Slurk, of the Independent!"
    • 1847 December, Ellis Bell , chapter XXVII, in Wuthering Heights: , volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, , →OCLC:
      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!

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

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
    • 1795–1797, Edmund Burke, “(please specify |letter=1 to 4)”, in , London: :
      There is also a false, reptile prudence, the result not of caution, but of fear.
    • 1800, S T Coleridge, “Christabel. Part II.”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: John Murray, , by William Bulmer and Co. , published 1816, →OCLC, page 34:
      My herald shall appoint a week, / And let the recreant traitors seek / My tournay court—that there and then / I may dislodge their reptile souls / From the bodies and forms of men!

Synonyms

See also

Anagrams

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rēptilis.

Pronunciation

Noun

reptile m (plural reptiles)

  1. reptile

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Romanian: reptilă

Further reading

Latin

Etymology

Substantivized neuter of rēptilis (“creeping”), taken from the phrase animal rēptile.

Pronunciation

Noun

rēptile n (genitive rēptilis); third declension

  1. (Late Latin) a reptile

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, pure i-stem).

singular plural
nominative rēptile rēptilia
genitive rēptilis rēptilium
dative rēptilī rēptilibus
accusative rēptile rēptilia
ablative rēptilī rēptilibus
vocative rēptile rēptilia

Descendants

References

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia