apteryx
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of apteryx
1805–15; < New Latin: the genus name, equivalent to Greek a- a- 6 + -pteryx, adj. use of ptéryx wing
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The wing of apteryx, like that of the cassowary, has become extremely reduced.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various
Some of the largest vertebrae, tibiae, and femora equal in magnitude the most gigantic previously known, while others are not larger than the corresponding bones of the living apteryx.
From COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Humboldt, Alexander von
The last of the gigantic birds were probably exterminated, like the dodo, by human agency: some small species allied to the apteryx may possibly be met with in the unexplored parts of the middle island.
From COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Humboldt, Alexander von
Allied to these are the four species of Kiwi or apteryx, still existing there.
From More Science From an Easy Chair by Lankester, E. Ray (Edwin Ray), Sir
This is not precisely typical of the gallinaceous species; but it is none the less a phenomenon which might be mentioned in a comparison with the apteryx.
From The Land of Contrasts A Briton's View of His American Kin by Muirhead, James F. (James Fullarton)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
