mastodon

Alternative forms

• mastodont

Etymology

First attested 1813, from the New Latin genus name Mastodon (1806), coined by French naturalist Georges Cuvier, from Ancient Greek μαστός (mastós, “breast”) + ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth”), from the similarity of the mammilloid projections on the crowns of the extinct mammal's molars.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmæstədɑn/, /ˈmæstədən/^[1]

Noun

mastodon (plural mastodons)

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.

mastodon

References