plesiosaur
/ˈpliːsiəsɔːɹ/noun
plesiosaur is spelled P-L-E-S-I-O-S-A-U-R: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 159,707th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, plesiosaur means “Any of the order †Plesiosauria of extinct marine reptiles, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of plesiosaur is plesiosaurs.
How many letters and syllables are in plesiosaur?
| Letters | 10: P-L-E-S-I-O-S-A-U-R |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 28 million words; the 159,707th 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 plesiosaur?
Plesiosaur appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 159,707th 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 plesiosaur?
- /ˈpliːsiəsɔːɹ/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-plesiosaur.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of plesiosaur
- plesiosaurs plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does plesiosaur mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of the order †Plesiosauria of extinct marine reptiles, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Plesiosaur in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense extinct marine reptile:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | plésiosaure |
| Portuguese | plesiossauro |
| Spanish | plesiosaurio |
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 plesiosaur come from?
Backformation of translingual Plesiosaurus, named by William Conybeare and Henry De la Beche in 1824 because plesiosaurs were more like a normal reptile than Ichthyosaurus, which had been found in the same rock strata a few years earlier. Surface derivation, plesio- + -saur.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).