platypus

Meaning

Noun

• A semi-aquatic, egg-laying monotreme mammal 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 — males have poisonous spurs on the inside of the back legs; Ornithorhynchus anatinus

Related

Similar words

• duck-billed platypus
• duckbill
• duckmole
• mallangong

Origin

• From New Latin Platypus (originally a genus name already in use for a type of beetle), from Ancient Greek πλατύπους ("flat-footed"), from πλατύς + πούς. flatfoot.