mastodon

Meaning

1. Extinct elephant-like mammal of the genus †Mammut that flourished worldwide from Miocene through Pleistocene times; differs from elephants and mammoths in the form of the molar teeth.
2. (figuratively) Anything awkwardly large or unwieldy.

Synonyms

mastodont

monster

Mammut

mastodonton

Translations

mastodonte

mastodonte

mastodonte

mastodonte

Mastodon

mastodont

mastodont

Mammut

mastodon

μαστόδοντας

mastodon

Mastodonte

mastodontes

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈmæstədɑn/

Etymology

First attested 1813, from translingual Mastodon (1806), coined by French naturalist Georges Cuvier, from masto- (“breast”) + -odon (“tooth”), due to the mammilloid (“nipple-shaped”) projections on the crowns of the extinct mammal's molars.