saurianadj.n.
/ˈsɔːrɪən/, U.S. /ˈsɔriən/ A. adj.
1. Zoology. Belonging to the order Sauria.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > extinct reptiles and dinosaurs > [adjective] > of order Sauria
saurian1817
1817 Edinb. Encycl. (1830) XI. 23/1 Saurian Reptiles.
1851 G. A. Mantell Petrifactions iii. §5. 308 The Amblyrhynchi, the most exclusively vegetable feeders of the saurian order.
2. Pertaining to or characteristic of a saurian.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > extinct reptiles and dinosaurs > [adjective] > of order Sauria > of or relating to dinosaur
saurian1826
dinosaurian1842
dinosauric1888
dino1981
1826 Ann. Rep. Yorksh. Philos. Soc. 14 in Lyell Princ. Geol. (1830) I. 129 (note) Having found a saurian vertebra.
1844 E. B. Barrett Drama of Exile 738 in Poems I Earth methinks, Will..class these present dogmas with the rest Of the old~world traditions, Eden fruits And Saurian fossils.
1864 Day in Geol. Mag. I. 61 They were not mixed up with Saurian remains, or those of any other species of Hybodus.
3. figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > extinct reptiles and dinosaurs > [adjective] > of order Sauria > resembling
saurian1864
dinosauric1888
dinosaur-like1932
1864 W. Bagehot in National Rev. 18 525 Much of Tristram Shandy is a sort of antediluvian fun, in which uncouth Saurian jokes play idly in an unintelligible world.
1929 G. Mitchell Myst. Butcher's Shop i. 8 Mrs. Beatrice Lestrange Bradley..smiled the saurian smile of the sand lizard and basked in the sun.
1940 G. Mitchell Brazen Tongue vi. 67 Lady Selina had never approved..the deep affection of her daughter Sally for this oddly saurian aunt.
1970 R. Lowell Notebk. 101 The jellied green creepers and morning-glories of the saurian sunset.
B. n.
1. (Zoology) A reptile of the order Sauria. Now chiefly in popular use, applied esp. to crocodiles and to large extinct lizard-like animals such as the ichthyosaurus, plesiosaurus, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > extinct reptiles and dinosaurs > [noun] > Sauria > saurian or dinosaur
saurian1817
saurus1834
dinosaur1842
dinosaurian1842
dino1910
1817 Edinb. Encycl. (1830) XI. 23/2 Flat-tailed Saurians.
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 148 The vertebra..of a saurian..has been met with in the mountain limestone of Northumberland.
1832 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. (ed. 2) II. 103 Of the great saurians, the gavials which inhabit the Ganges differ from the cayman of America, or the crocodile of the Nile.
1851 G. A. Mantell Petrifactions iii. §5. 302 Bones and teeth of marine saurians.
1888 J. Inglis Tent Life Tigerland 3 The long ugly serrated back of the man-eating saurian.
1891 F. Thompson Sister-songs (1895) 31 Like the back of a gold-mailèd saurian Heaving its slow length from Nilotic slime.
2. figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > extinct reptiles and dinosaurs > [noun] > Sauria > saurian or dinosaur > that resembles
saurian1923
1923 H. G. Wells Men like Gods i. i. 13 A car with the voice of a prehistoric saurian warned him.
1953 A. Huxley Let. 25 Sept. (1969) 684 The mesozoic reptiles of the Ford Foundation are being as mesozoic as ever... Hutchins has recently flown to New York and has promised to do what he can with the saurians.
1974 V. Nabokov Look at Harlequins (1975) ii. i. 130 He was one of the very few larger saurians in the émigré marshes.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.n.1817