# reptile

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɹɛp.taɪl/ · frequency rank #21,046

## Definitions
1. Any member of the class Reptilia that is not a bird— a cold-blooded vertebrate with dry scales that usually lays eggs, such as a lizard, snake, turtle, tortoise, crocodile, alligator, etc.
2. Any member of Reptilia, including birds.
3. A reptile or amphibian.
4. A mean, grovelling, loathsome or repulsive person.

## Etymology
From Middle English reptil, from Old French reptile, from Late Latin rēptile, neuter of reptilis (“creeping”), from Latin rēpō (“to creep”), from Proto-Indo-European *rep- (“to creep, slink”) (Pokorny; Watkins, 1969).

## Easily confused with
- **retire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reptile-vs-retire)
- **reprise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reprise-vs-reptile)

## Common misspellings (10)
`erptile`, `repitle`, `repptile`, `reptiel`, `reptille`, `reptlie`, `repttile`, `retpile`, `rpetile`, `rreptile`

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