English Explanatory Dictionary

heterodont

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Having teeth of different types (like most mammals).
  2. Of bivalves or their hinge teeth: having two to three wedge-shaped cardinal teeth set in the centre near the umbones, generally also with elongated lateral teeth on the anterior and posterior margins.
noun
  1. A heterodont animal.
  2. A heterodont bivalve.
  3. A snake of the genus Heterodon which is native to North America.

Pronunciation

/ˈhɛtəɹəʊdɒnt/ /ˈhɛtɹəʊdɒnt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-heterodont.wav /ˈhɛtəɹəˌdɑnt/ /ˈhɛtɹə-/ [-ɾəɹə-] [-ɾɹə-]

Word forms

heterodont heterodonts

Etymology

From hetero- (prefix meaning ‘different’) + -odont (suffix meaning ‘tooth; toothed’). Hetero- is derived from Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros, “one or the other of two; different”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together; one”); while -odont is from Ancient Greek ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth; tusk”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- (“to bite”) + *-ónts (suffix forming nouns denoting body parts). By surface analysis, hetero- + -odont.

Antonyms

homodont

Related words

heterodontid Heterodontidae Heterodontiformes heterodontosaur heterodontosaurid Heterodontosaurus Heterodontus diphyodont monophyodont polyphyodont

Derived words

heterodontism heterodonty palaeoheterodont

Translations

Irish: heatródóntach Irish: heitridhéadach Italian: eterodonte Romanian: heterodont
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on H Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary