dinosaur
di·no·saur/ˈdaɪnəsoɹ/noun
dinosaur is spelled D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R: 8 letters and 3 syllables (di·no·saur). It appears 5.9 times per million words in written English, the 10,028th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dinosaur means “Those animals of the clade Dinosauria that existed during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and are now extinct” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dinosaur is dinosaurs.
How many letters and syllables are in dinosaur?
| Letters | 8: D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: di·no·saur |
| In writing | 5.9 times per million words; the 10,028th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is dinosaur?
Dinosaur appears 5.9 times per million words in written English, the 10,028th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dinosaur?
- UK /ˈdaɪnəsɔː(ɹ)/
- US /ˈdaɪnəsoɹ/
- /ˈdʌɪnəsɔːɹ/
Dinosaur has 3 syllables, split di·no·saur in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dinosaur.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dinosaur
- dinosaurs plural
- dinosaurus
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dinosaur mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Those animals of the clade Dinosauria that existed during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and are now extinct.
Despite what some cartoons portray, no humans were around when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
- 2
Any of the animals belonging to the clade Dinosauria, including its sole surviving lineage: Neornithes.
Many people love their backyard birds, but some of us may not realize that those feathery friends are also literally dinosaurs, in a biologically accurate sense of that word.
- 3
informalproscribedAny extinct reptile, not necessarily belonging to Dinosauria, that existed between about 230 million and 65 million years ago, as well as the stem-mammal Dimetrodon.
Pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, icthyosaurs – I don't know, they're all dinosaurs to me!
- 4
colloquialSomeone or something that is very old or old-fashioned, especially someone who is not willing to change and adapt.
She may be a tough old bird, but it's a mistake to write her off as a dinosaur; you do so at your own risk.
- 5
colloquialAnything no longer in common use or practice.
I couldn't believe it when I saw the equipment that they were still using. Those machines were all dinosaurs, but they were busily cranking out production.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dinosaur in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense prehistoric reptile:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dinosaure |
| German | Dinosaurier, Dinosaurus, Dino, Saurier |
| Portuguese | dinossauro |
| Spanish | dinosaurio |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dinosaur come from?
From Ancient Greek δεινός (deinós, “terrible, awesome, mighty, fearfully great”) + σαῦρος (saûros, “lizard, reptile”). Coined as Dinosaur(s) and Dinosauria by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1841/1842.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).