brontosaurus

American  

[bron-tuh-sawr-uhs] / ˌbrɒn təˈsɔr əs /

noun

plural

brontosauruses, brontosauri

1. brontosaur.

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brontosaurus British  

/ ˌbrɒntəˈsɔːrəs, ˈbrɒntəˌsɔː /

noun

1. any very large herbivorous quadrupedal dinosaur of the genus Apatosaurus , common in North America during Jurassic times, having a long neck and long tail: suborder Sauropoda (sauropods)

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brontosaurus Scientific  

/ brŏn′tə-sôr′əs /

1. An earlier name for apatosaurus

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Brontosaurus Cultural  

1. A large herbivorous (see herbivore) dinosaur, perhaps the most familiar of the dinosaurs. The scientific name has recently been changed to Apatosaurus, but Brontosaurus is still used popularly. The word is from the Greek, meaning “thunder lizard.”

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Word History

Take a little deception, add a little excitement, stir them with a century-long mistake, and you have the mystery of the brontosaurus. Specifically, you have the mystery of its name. For 100 years this 70-foot-long, 30-ton vegetarian giant had two names. This case of double identity began in 1877, when bones of a large dinosaur were discovered. The creature was dubbed apatosaurus, a name that meant “deceptive lizard” or “unreal lizard.” Two years later, bones of a larger dinosaur were found, and in all the excitement, scientists named it brontosaurus or “thunder lizard.” This name stuck until scientists decided it was all a mistake—the two sets of bones actually belonged to the same type of dinosaur. Since it is a rule in taxonomy that the first name given to a newly discovered organism is the one that must be used, scientists have had to use the term apatosaurus. But “thunder lizard” had found a lot of popular appeal, and many people still prefer to call the beast brontosaurus.

Etymology

Origin of brontosaurus

< New Latin (1879), equivalent to Greek bronto- (combining form of brontḗ thunder) + saûros -saurus

Compare meaning

How does brontosaurus compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• diplodocus vs. brontosaurus

Explanation

The brontosaurus was a giant dinosaur. Despite its huge body, the brontosaurus was an herbivore and had a small head and jaw set on a very long neck that was balanced by a long, thin tail. For over a century, paleontologists thought the brontosaurus was actually just another apatosaurus, a similar dinosaur that had already been discovered. But in 2015, scientists took another look, and now the brontosaurus is back! The brontosaurus lived in North America in the Jurassic period. Its scientific name comes from Greek roots bronte and saurus, meaning "thunder lizard," which is more fun than apato plus saurus, which means “deceptive lizard.”

Example Sentences

There are vitrines throughout, filled with fine jewelry, asteroid chunks and a brontosaurus tooth; some of them have drink rails, where a martini can rest beside an artifact that’s hundreds of millions of years old.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Onstage in Lincoln Center Theater’s maximalist revival of “The Skin of Our Teeth” last spring were a giant brontosaurus puppet, a full-scale amusement park slide and a stage-spanning verdant field in full bloom.

From New York Times • Sep. 28, 2022

However, the heft of modern harvesters is outweighed by long-necked plant-eating dinosaurs such as brontosaurus, which once roamed the Earth.

From BBC • May 17, 2022

And, of course, I asked him if he could make a burger that tasted like a brontosaurus.

From The Verge • Dec. 22, 2020

He listened to my heart and lungs, his bald head dipping on the long neck like that of a brontosaurus, sampling leaves.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides