Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
ceratosaurus

ceratosaurus

1 9.9
A medium-sized meat-eating dinosaur with a short horn on its nose
  • noun
  • /ˌsɛrəˈtɔːsərəs/
  • Specialized
: ceratosaurus
  • Paleontologists believe the ceratosaurus used its distinctive nasal horn for display or combat.

Examples

  • The remains of a ceratosaurus were discovered in the Morrison Formation of North America.

  • The ceratosaurus was a fierce predator during the Jurassic period.

  • Unlike many other theropods, ceratosaurus had unusually long, blade-like teeth.

  • Did you know that the ceratosaurus had sharp claws?

  • Paleontologists believe the ceratosaurus used its distinctive nasal horn for display or combat.

  • The remains of a ceratosaurus were discovered in the Morrison Formation of North America.

  • The ceratosaurus was a fierce predator during the Jurassic period.

Surface Forms

ceratosaurus singular
ceratosauruses plural

Morphology

ceratosaurus = cerato + saurus

The name is built from Greek combining forms cerato- ('horn') and -saurus ('lizard'), which are not productive standalone English words and are unlikely to be transparently understood by an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Ceratosaurus comes from the Greek roots keras 'horn' and sauros 'lizard', and the sauros part is the same root as in dinosaur. So ceratosaurus means 'horned lizard', which fits this meat-eating dinosaur with a short horn on its nose.