alligator
English
editEtymology 1
editFrom early Modern English alligater, alligarta, aligarto, alegarto, alagarto, from Spanish el lagarto (“the lizard”), from Latin lacertus (“lizard”), modern spelling possibly influenced by the unrelated Latin alligator (“one who binds”).
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈæl.ɪ.ɡeɪ.tə/
- (General American) enPR: ălʹĭ-gā-tər, IPA(key): /ˈæl.ɪ.ɡeɪ.tɚ/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file) - Hyphenation: al‧li‧ga‧tor
- Homophone: allegator
- Rhymes: -eɪtə(ɹ)
Noun
editalligator (plural alligators)
- Either of two species of large amphibious reptile, Alligator mississippiensis or Alligator sinensis, in the genus Alligator within order Crocodilia, which have sharp teeth and very strong jaws and are native to the Americas and China, respectively.
- All you could see of the alligator were two eyes above the water, then suddenly it snatched up and caught the poor bird with strong jaws full of sharp teeth.
- 2002, Maurice Burton, Robert Burton, International Wildlife Encyclopedia, page 38:
- Alligators and crocodiles look extremely alike.
The main distinguishing feature is the teeth. In a crocodile the teeth in its upper and lower jaws are in line, but in an alligator, when its mouth is shut, the upper teeth lie outside the lower ones.
- 2007, Bernie McGovern, editor, Florida Almanac: 2007-2008, 17th edition, page 243:
- In 1967, the federal government declared alligators to be an Endangered Species and prohibited gator hunting and the sale of hides. The alligator responded and by the mid-1970s, the reptile numbers soared to an estimated half-million.
- 2012, Thomas N. Tozer, Pierre's Journey to Florida: Diary of a Young Huguenot in the Sixteenth Century, unnumbered page:
- They ran to the village screaming at the top of their lungs that an alligator was coming after them. Several of the men in Alimacani retrieved from a storehouse the tool they used to catch alligators.
- (paleontology) A member of the family Alligatoridae, which includes the caimans.
- (Nigeria) A dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis)
- (dated) A crocodile of any species.
- 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 88:
- Alligators were very numerous, in fact the harbour was infested by them.
- Any of various machines with strong jaws, one of which opens like the movable jaw of an alligator.
- (metalworking) A form of squeezer for the puddle ball.
- (mining) A rock breaker.
- (printing) A kind of job press.
- Any of various vehicles that have relatively long, low noses in front of a cab or other, usually windowed, structure.
Synonyms
edit- (reptile within Crocodilia): gator (informal)
Coordinate terms
editDerived terms
edit- Alligator Alley
- alligator apple (Annona glabra)
- alligator bait
- alligator clamp
- alligator clip
- alligatored
- alligator fish
- alligatorfish (Aspidophoroides monopterygius)
- alligator flag (Thalia spp.)
- alligator forceps
- alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula)
- alligator grass
- alligatoring
- alligator juniper (Juniperus deppeana)
- alligator leather
- alligatorlike
- alligator lizard (Abronia spp., Elgaria spp., and Coloptychon)
- alligator pear
- alligator pepper (Aframomum daniellii)
- Alligator Pond
- alligator press
- alligator saw
- alligator shear
- alligator skin
- alligator snapper, alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii)
- alligator spread
- alligator terrapin
- alligator tortoise
- alligator turtle, alligator-turtle (Macrochelys temminckii)
- alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides)
- alligator-wood, alligatorwood (Liquidambar styraciflua)
- alligator wrench
- American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
- big-lipped alligator moment
- Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis)
- gator
- prairie alligator (Anisomorpha ferruginea)
- see you later alligator
- spectacled alligator (spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus))
- werealligator
Translations
edit
|
Verb
editalligator (third-person singular simple present alligators, present participle alligatoring, simple past and past participle alligatored)
- (intransitive, of paint or other coatings) To crack in a pattern resembling an alligator's skin.
- 2003, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Essentials of Home Inspection: Roofing, page 24:
- Alligatoring is a result of the sun making the top surface of the asphalt brittle.
- 2004, James E. Piper, Handbook of Facility Assessment, page 39:
- Sealing an area that is alligatoring is a temporary solution that may delay having to replace the asphalt for several years. A more permanent repair would be to replace the alligatored section.
- 2009, Kären M. Hess, Christine M. H. Orthmann, Criminal Investigation, page 483:
- Common burn indicators include alligatoring, crazing, the depth of char, lines of demarcation, sagged furniture springs and spalling.
Interjection
editalligator
- Used in a common chronometric counting scheme, in which the speaker counts out loud, saying the word "alligator" between the numbers so that each number is spoken approximately one second after the last one.
- 2013, Chuck Palahniuk, “December 21, 9:33 A.M. CST”, in Doomed:
- The same way people will count the seconds between lightning and thunder, I counted the seconds between coughs. One-alligator, two-alligator, three-alligator.
References
edit- Michael Quinion (2004) “Alligator”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.
- “alligator”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “alligator”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Etymology 2
editBorrowed from Latin alligātor.
Noun
editalligator (plural alligators)
See also
editDanish
editNoun
editalligator c (singular definite alligatoren, plural indefinite alligatorer)
Declension
editcommon gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
nominative | alligator | alligatoren | alligatorer | alligatorerne |
genitive | alligators | alligatorens | alligatorers | alligatorernes |
References
editDutch
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editBorrowed from English alligator, from Spanish el lagarto (“the lizard”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editalligator m (plural alligators, diminutive alligatortje n)
- alligator, crocodilian of the genus Alligator [from 18th c.]
French
editEtymology
editPronunciation
editNoun
editalligator m (plural alligators)
- alligator (animal)
Further reading
edit- “alligator”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin
editAlternative forms
editPronunciation
edit- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /al.liˈɡaː.tor/, [älːʲɪˈɡäːt̪ɔr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /al.liˈɡa.tor/, [älːiˈɡäːt̪or]
Etymology 1
editNoun
editalligātor m (genitive alligātōris); third declension
Declension
editThird-declension noun.
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | alligātor | alligātōrēs |
genitive | alligātōris | alligātōrum |
dative | alligātōrī | alligātōribus |
accusative | alligātōrem | alligātōrēs |
ablative | alligātōre | alligātōribus |
vocative | alligātor | alligātōrēs |
References
edit- “alligator”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Etymology 2
editFrom English alligator, a fusion of Spanish el lagarto (“the lizard”), from Latin lacertus (“lizard”), unrelated to the sense above.
Noun
editalligātor m (genitive alligātōris); third declension
Declension
editThird-declension noun.
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | alligātor | alligātōrēs |
genitive | alligātōris | alligātōrum |
dative | alligātōrī | alligātōribus |
accusative | alligātōrem | alligātōrēs |
ablative | alligātōre | alligātōribus |
vocative | alligātor | alligātōrēs |
Norwegian Bokmål
editEtymology
editFrom Spanish el lagarto (“the lizard”), via English alligator.
Noun
editalligator m (definite singular alligatoren, indefinite plural alligatorer, definite plural alligatorene)
References
edit- “alligator” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
editEtymology
editFrom Spanish el lagarto (“the lizard”), via English alligator.
Noun
editalligator m (definite singular alligatoren, indefinite plural alligatorar, definite plural alligatorane)
References
edit- “alligator” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Swedish
editNoun
editalligator c
- alligator (reptile)
Declension
editSee also
edit- krokodil (“crocodile”)
References
editWest Frisian
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Dutch alligator.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editalligator c (plural alligators, diminutive alligatorke)
- English terms derived from Spanish
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English terms with homophones
- Rhymes:English/eɪtə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/eɪtə(ɹ)/4 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- en:Paleontology
- Nigerian English
- English dated terms
- en:Metalworking
- en:Mining
- en:Printing
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English interjections
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Crocodilians
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish common-gender nouns
- da:Reptiles
- Dutch terms borrowed from English
- Dutch terms derived from English
- Dutch terms derived from Spanish
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:Dutch/aːtɔr
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch masculine nouns
- nl:Reptiles
- French terms derived from English
- French 4-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- fr:Crocodilians
- Latin 4-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin terms suffixed with -tor
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin third declension nouns
- Latin masculine nouns in the third declension
- Latin masculine nouns
- Latin terms with quotations
- Latin terms derived from English
- Latin terms derived from Spanish
- Latin terms borrowed back into Latin
- New Latin
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Spanish
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from English
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- nb:Reptiles
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Spanish
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from English
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns
- nn:Reptiles
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- sv:Reptiles
- West Frisian terms borrowed from Dutch
- West Frisian terms derived from Dutch
- West Frisian terms with IPA pronunciation
- West Frisian lemmas
- West Frisian nouns
- West Frisian common-gender nouns
- fy:Reptiles