reptile

[rep-til, -tahyl] /ˈrɛp tɪl, -taɪl/

noun

any cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia, comprising the turtles, snakes, lizards, crocodilians, amphisbaenians, tuatara, and various extinct members including the dinosaurs.

(loosely) any of various animals that crawl or creep.

a groveling, mean, or despicable person.

adjective

of or resembling a reptile; creeping or crawling.

groveling, mean, or despicable.

Origin

1350-1400; Middle English reptil < Late Latin rēptile, noun use of neuter of rēptilis creeping, equivalent to Latin rēpt(us) (past participle of rēpere to creep) + -ilis -ile

Related forms

reptilelike, adjective

reptiloid

[rep-tl-oid] /ˈrɛp tlˌɔɪd/ (Show IPA), adjective

Examples from the web for reptiles

Pile brush in an out-of-the-way corner of the garden to provide winter cover for birds, reptiles, and small mammals.
New mammals, birds, and reptiles remain to be discovered.
Chicken nuggets that had taken on the form of prehistoric reptiles.
Birds are weird-feathered and scaly, hatched from eggs, hollow-boned reptiles with wings.
He insists upon taking the writer up to his flat to see his vivarium and his reptiles that talk.
The adhesive is inspired by geckos' feet, which allow the reptiles to walk along the ceiling and up and down smooth walls.
Frogs and terrapin belong to a lower order of animals than fish,-reptiles.
Occasionally lacustrine and fluviatile shells, or the bones of amphibious or land reptiles, point to the same conclusion.
The greenhouse warming and the acid rain also did for the forests and many of the reptiles.
Its outer layer is parchmentlike, which is characteristic of the ova of modern egg-burying reptiles such as turtles.

British Dictionary definitions for reptiles

reptile

/ˈrɛptaɪl/

noun

any of the cold-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Reptilia, characterized by lungs, an outer covering of horny scales or plates, and young produced in amniotic eggs. The class today includes the tortoises, turtles, snakes, lizards, and crocodiles; in Mesozoic times it was the dominant group, containing the dinosaurs and related forms

a grovelling insignificant person: you miserable little reptile!

adjective

creeping, crawling, or squirming

grovelling or insignificant; mean; contemptible

Word Origin

C14: from Late Latin reptilis creeping, from Latin rēpere to crawl

Word Origin and History for reptiles

reptile

late 14c., "creeping or crawling animal," from Old French reptile (early 14c.) and directly from Late Latin reptile, noun use of neuter of reptilis (adj.) "creping, crawling," from rept-, past participle stem of repere "to crawl, creep," from PIE root *rep- "to creep, crawl" (cf. Lithuanian replioju "to creep"). Used of persons of low character from 1749.

Precise scientific use began to develop mid-18c., but the word was used as well at first of animals now known as amphibians, including toads, frogs, salamanders; separation of Reptilia (1835 as a distinct class) and Amphibia took place early 19c.; popular use lagged, and reptile still was used late 18c. with sense "An animal that creeps upon many feet" [Johnson, who calls the scorpion a reptile], sometimes excluding serpents.

And the terrestrial animals may be divided into quadrupeds or beasts, reptiles, which have many feet, and serpents, which have no feet at all. [Locke, "Elements of Natural Philosophy," 1689]

An inadvertent step may crush the snail
That crawls at ev'ning in the public path ;
But he that has humanity, forewarn'd,
Will tread aside, and let the reptile live.
[Cowper, "The Task," 1785]

The Old English word for "reptile" was slincend, related to slink.

reptiles in Science

reptile

(rěp'tīl')
Any of various cold-blooded vertebrates of the class Reptilia, having skin covered with scales or horny plates, breathing air with lungs, and usually having a three-chambered heart. Unlike amphibians, whose eggs are fertilized outside the female body, reptiles reproduce by eggs that are fertilized inside the female. Though once varied, widespread, and numerous, reptilian lineages, including the pterosaurs, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and dinosaurs, have mostly become extinct (though birds are living descendants of dinosaurs). The earliest reptiles were the cotylosaurs (or stem reptiles) of the late Mississippian or early Pennsylvanian Period, from which mammals evolved. Modern reptiles include crocodiles, snakes, turtles, and lizards.

reptiles in Culture

reptiles definition

A class of scaly vertebrates that usually reproduce by laying eggs. Lizards, snakes, turtles, and alligators are reptiles. Reptiles are cold-blooded animals.

Note: The dinosaurs were reptiles.