salamander

[ sal-uh-man-der ]

noun

1. any tailed amphibian of the order Caudata, having a soft, moist, scaleless skin, typically aquatic as a larva and semiterrestrial as an adult: several species are endangered.
2. a mythical being, especially a lizard or other reptile, thought to be able to live in fire.
3. any of various portable stoves or burners.
4. Metallurgy. a mass of iron that accumulates at the bottom of a blast furnace as a result of the escape of molten metal through the hearth.
5. a metal plate or disk with a handle, heated and held over pastry, casserole crusts, etc., to brown or glaze it.
6. an oven usually heated from the top and bottom by gas, for cooking, browning, and glazing food.

salamander

/ ˈsæləˌmændə; ˌsæləˈmændrɪn /

noun

1. any of various urodele amphibians, such as Salamandra salamandra ( European fire salamander ) of central and S Europe (family Salamandridae ). They are typically terrestrial, have an elongated body, and only return to water to breed
2. any urodele amphibian
3. a mythical reptile supposed to live in fire
4. an elemental fire-inhabiting being
5. any person or thing able to exist in fire or great heat
6. metallurgy a residue of metal and slag deposited on the walls of a furnace
7. a portable stove used to dry out a building under construction

Derived Forms

• salamandrine, adjective

Other Words From

• sala·mander·like adjective
• sal·a·man·drine [sal-, uh, -, man, -drin], adjective
• sala·mandroid adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of salamander¹

1300–50; Middle English salamandre from Latin salamandra from Greek salamándrā

Word History and Origins

Origin of salamander¹

C14: from Old French salamandre, from Latin salamandra, from Greek

Synonym Study

See sylph.

Example Sentences

Here, slender salamanders slink through the leaf litter under robust stands of Santa Cruz Island buckwheat and California fuchsia.

From Los Angeles Times

Rachel Nuwer and Chang W. Lee each joined a nighttime salamander hunt in Kyoto, Japan, and visited a herpetology lab at Kyoto University while reporting this article.

From New York Times

In the animal kingdom, some of the largest genomes include certain lungfishes and salamander at about 120 billion base pairs.

From BBC

Frogs, salamanders and lungfish had far bigger genomes than humans did.

From New York Times

The species they support range from tiger salamanders to desert pupfish, and from songbirds to mammals such as ground squirrels and bighorn sheep.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• frog
• toad