Amphibian definition |Dictionary.com

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7 dictionary results for: Amphibian

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

am·phib·i·an

[am-fib-ee-uh

n] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	any cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Amphibia, comprising frogs and toads, newts and salamanders, and caecilians, the larvae being typically aquatic, breathing by gills, and the adults being typically semiterrestrial, breathing by lungs and through the moist, glandular skin.

2.	an amphibious plant.

3.	an airplane designed for taking off from and landing on both land and water.

4.	Also called amtrac. a flat-bottomed, armed, military vehicle, equipped with both tracks and a rudder, that can travel either on land or in water, used chiefly for landing assault troops.

–adjective

5.	belonging or pertaining to the Amphibia.

6.	amphibious (def. 2).

[Origin: 1630–40; < L amphibi(a), neut. pl. of amphibius (adj.) (see amphibious) + -an

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

am·phib·i·an (ām-fĭb'ē-ən) Pronunciation Key
n.

A cold-blooded, smooth-skinned vertebrate of the class Amphibia, such as a frog or salamander, that characteristically hatches as an aquatic larva with gills. The larva then transforms into an adult having air-breathing lungs.
An animal capable of living both on land and in water.
An aircraft that can take off and land on either land or water.
A tracked or wheeled vehicle that can operate both on land and in water.

[From New Latin Amphibia, class name, from Greek, neuter pl. of amphibios, amphibious : amphi-, amphi- + bios, life; see g^wei- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
amphibian

1637, "having two modes of existence, of doubtful nature," from Gk. amphibia, neut. pl. of amphibios, from amphi- "of both kinds" + bios "life" (see bio-). Formerly used by zoologists to describe all sorts of combined natures (including otters and seals), the biological sense "class of animals between fishes and reptiles that live both on land and in water," and the noun derivative, first recorded 1835. Amphibia was used in this sense from 1609 and has been a zoological classification since c.1819. Amphibious with ref. to motorized vehicles dates from 1915.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

amphibian
adjective
1.	relating to or characteristic of animals of the class Amphibia [syn: amphibious]
noun
1.	a flat-bottomed motor vehicle that can travel on land or water
2.	an airplane designed to take off and land on water
3.	cold-blooded vertebrate typically living on land but breeding in water; aquatic larvae undergo metamorphosis into adult form

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

amphibian (ām-fĭb'ē-ən) Pronunciation Key

A cold-blooded, smooth-skinned vertebrate of the class Amphibia. Amphibians hatch as aquatic larvae with gills and, in most species, then undergo metamorphosis into four-legged terrestrial adults with lungs for breathing air. The eggs of amphibians are fertilized externally and lack an amnion. Amphibians evolved from lobe-finned fish during the late Devonian Period and include frogs, toads, newts, salamanders, and caecilians.

Our Living Language : Amphibians, not quite fish and not quite reptiles, were the first vertebrates to live on land. These cold-blooded animals spend their larval stage in water, breathing through their gills. In adulthood they usually live on land, using their lungs to breath air. This double life is also at the root of their name, amphibian, which, like many scientific words, derives from Greek. The Greek prefix amphi- means "both," or "double," and the Greek word bios means "life." Both these elements are widely used in English scientific terminology: bios, for example, is seen in such words as biology, antibiotic, and symbiotic.