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amphibian

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English

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin amphibius [from Ancient Greek ἀμφίβιος (amphíbios), from ἀμφίς (amphís, “of both kinds”) + βίος (bíos, “life”)] +‎ -an.

Pronunciation

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  • enPR: ăm'fĭb"ĭ-ən, IPA(key): /æmˈfɪbɪən/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

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amphibian (not comparable)

  1. Of or relating to the class Amphibia.
  2. Capable of operating on both land and water; amphibious.
    Coordinate terms: triphibian, triphibious, omniphibious
  3. (obsolete) Having two natures.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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amphibian (plural amphibians)

  2. An animal of the Amphibia; any vertebrate that does not have amniotic eggs, living both on land and in water.
    Synonym: amphibium
    Hypernym: batrachomorph
  4. A vehicle which can operate on both land and water.
    Coordinate term: triphibian
  5. (now uncommon) A person with two distinct characters, qualities or identities.
    • 1994, R. J. W. Evans, “Austrian Identity in Hungarian Perspective: The Nineteenth Century”, in Ritchie Robertson, Edward Timms, editors, The Habsburg Legacy: National Identity in Historical Perspective (Austrian Studies; 5), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, →ISBN, page 29:
      The prime exemplar of such a cast of mind must be Johann Ladislas Pyrker, a definite amphibian and ‘Austro-Hungarian’ in his literary and in his public life. The son of another estate bailiff in Transdanubia, Pyrker became successively a Hungarian official, an Austrian monk and at length a fairly worldly abbot at Lilienfeld, then a bishop in Hungary, patriarch of Venice, and archbishop in Hungary again.

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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