reptilian

/rɛpˈtɪljən/

Other forms: reptilians

Use the adjective reptilian to describe a reptile: your pet iguana, while also sweet and possibly cuddly, is definitely reptilian.

Crocodiles, lizards, and turtles are all reptiles, and you can therefore describe all of them as reptilian. A reptilian animal is not a mammal or a bird, and it is most likely cold-blooded and egg laying. You can also use the word reptilian to describe something — or someone — that reminds you of a reptile. The Latin root is reptilis, which means "creeping or crawling."

Definitions of reptilian

1. adjective

   of or relating to the class Reptilia
2. noun

   any cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia including tortoises, turtles, snakes, lizards, alligators, crocodiles, and extinct forms
   synonyms: reptile

   types:

   anapsid, anapsid reptile

   primitive reptile having no opening in the temporal region of the skull; all extinct except turtles

   diapsid, diapsid reptile

   reptile having a pair of openings in the skull behind each eye

   Diapsida, subclass Diapsida

   used in former classifications to include all living reptiles except turtles; superseded by the two subclasses Lepidosauria and Archosauria

   synapsid, synapsid reptile

   extinct reptile having a single pair of lateral temporal openings in the skull

   chelonian, chelonian reptile

   a reptile of the order Chelonia

   Sphenodon punctatum, tuatara

   only extant member of the order Rhynchocephalia of large spiny lizard-like diapsid reptiles of coastal islands off New Zealand

   saurian

   any of various reptiles of the suborder Sauria which includes lizards; in former classifications included also the crocodiles and dinosaurs

   archosaur, archosaurian, archosaurian reptile

   extinct reptiles including: dinosaurs; plesiosaurs; pterosaurs; ichthyosaurs; thecodonts

   crocodilian, crocodilian reptile

   extant archosaurian reptile

   protomammal, therapsid

   probably warm-blooded; considered direct ancestor of mammals

   ictodosaur

   intermediate in form between the therapsids and most primitive true mammals

   pelycosaur

   large primitive reptile having a tall spinal sail; of the Permian or late Paleozoic in Europe and North America

   edaphosaurus

   heavy-bodied reptile with a dorsal sail or crest; of the late Paleozoic

   dimetrodon

   carnivorous dinosaur of the Permian in North America having a crest or dorsal sail

   ophidian, serpent, snake

   limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous

   type of:

   craniate, vertebrate

   animals having a bony or cartilaginous skeleton with a segmented spinal column and a large brain enclosed in a skull or cranium