Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Mastodon
Mas′to-don
,Noun.
[Gr.
μαστόσ
the breast + ὀδούς
, ὀδόντος
, a tooth. So called from the conical projections upon its molar teeth.] (Paleon.)
An extinct genus of mammals closely allied to the elephant, but having less complex molar teeth, and often a pair of lower, as well as upper, tusks, which are incisor teeth. The species were mostly larger than elephants, and their remains occur in nearly all parts of the world in deposits ranging from Miocene to late Quaternary time.
Webster 1828 Edition
Mastodon
MAS'TODON
,Noun.
Definition 2024
Mastodon
Mastodon
See also: mastodon
Translingual
Etymology
Coined by French naturalist Georges Cuvier, from Ancient Greek μαστός (mastós, “breast”) + ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth”), from the similarity of the mammilloid projections on the crowns of the extinct mammal's molars.
Proper noun
Mastodon m
- (obsolete) A taxonomic genus within the family Mammutidae – the mastodon, a type of mammoth; replaced by Mammut.
mastodon
mastodon
See also: Mastodon
English
Alternative forms
Noun
mastodon (plural mastodons)
- Extinct elephant-like mammal of the genus Mammut that flourished worldwide from Miocene through Pleistocene times; differs from elephants and mammoths in the form of the molar teeth.
Derived terms
Translations
extinct elephant-like mammal of the genus Mammut
|
|