# lizard

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈlɪz.əd/ · frequency rank #12,459

## Definitions
1. Any reptile of the order Squamata that is not a snake or part of Mosasauria — typically characterised by a rounded torso, a short neck with an elevated head, four limbs and a long tail, although some species are legless.
2. Lizard skin, the skin of these reptiles.
3. An unctuous person.
4. A coward.
5. A hand forming a "D" shape with the tips of the thumb and index finger touching (a handshape resembling a lizard), that beats paper and Spock and loses to rock and scissors in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.
6. A person who idly spends time in a specified place, especially a promiscuous female.

## Etymology
From Middle English lesarde, lisarde, from Anglo-Norman lusard, from Old French lesard (compare French lézard), from Latin lacertus, which is of obscure origin. Displaced native Middle English aske, from Old English āþexe (> modern English ask, askard).

## Easily confused with
- **liar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/liar-vs-lizard)
- **lard** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lard-vs-lizard)
- **lazar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lazar-vs-lizard)
- **lidar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lidar-vs-lizard)
- **ligand** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ligand-vs-lizard)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ilzard`, `liazrd`, `lizadr`, `lizardd`, `lizarrd`, `lizrad`, `lizzard`, `llizard`, `lziard`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/lizard