platypus means A semiaquatic monotreme from eastern Australia with a bill resembling that of a duck, that has a mole-like body, a tail resembling that of a beaver, a waterproof pelt, and flat webbed feet (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). It carries an Arena rating of 1554, earned across 56 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, platypus ranks #134 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #153 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #493 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #665 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
platypus is pronounced /ˈplætɪpəs/.
Why “platypus” is a great word
A semiaquatic, egg-laying monotreme of eastern Australia, having a duck-like bill, webbed feet, a beaver-like tail, and a mole-like body. From New Latin Platypus, from Ancient Greek πλατύπους (platúpous, "flat-footed"), from πλατύς (platús, "flat") + πούς (poús, "foot"), coined as a genus name in 1799 by George Shaw. Unlike the "echidna," a spiny, terrestrial ant-eater, or the "beaver," a dam-building rodent, the platypus is an amphibious paradox. It is the quiet ripple in a shaded creek, the electric tingle of a leathery bill probing riverbed mud, and the warm pulse of a body incubating parchment-shelled eggs—a singular, venom-spurred rebuke to every orderly classification, a secret the world was never meant to keep.
Etymology
From New Latin Platypus (originally a genus name already in use for a type of beetle), from Ancient Greek πλατύπους (platúpous, “flat-footed”), from πλατύς (platús, “flat”) + πούς (poús, “foot”). Piecewise doublet of flatfoot.
noun
- A semiaquatic monotreme from eastern Australia with a bill resembling that of a duck, that has a mole-like body, a tail resembling that of a beaver, a waterproof pelt, and flat webbed feet (Ornithorhynchus anatinus).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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