compsognathus

[ komp-sog-nuh-thuhs ]

noun

1. any bipedal carnivorous dinosaur of the genus Compsognathus, of late Jurassic age, having a slender body that reached a length of 30 inches (76 centimeters).

Word History and Origins

Origin of compsognathus¹

From New Latin (1859), from Greek kompsó(s) “elegant” + -gnathos “jawed”; -gnathous

Example Sentences

There are two editions, famously differing in how they treat the 'flippers' of Compsognathus.

From Scientific American

Dinosaurs ranged vastly in weight from Brachiosaurus, weighing around 30 tonnes, to Compsognathus, which was the size and weight of a chicken.

From BBC

They inhabited every corner of the world and ranged in bulk from the chicken-size Compsognathus to the 100-ton Brachiosaurus, the largest creature ever to trod the earth.

From Time Magazine Archive

The midget has been identified as a Compsognathus corallestris, which, loosely translated from the Greek, means "long-jawed coral dweller."

From Time Magazine Archive

In the succeeding Jurassic Period we have the Compsognathus, smallest of known dinosaurs, and this Ornitholestes some six feet long.

From Project Gutenberg