lizard

See also: Lizard

English

A lizard.

Etymology

From Middle English lesarde, lisarde, from Anglo-Norman lusard, from Old French lesard (compare French lézard), from Latin lacertus, which is of obscure origin. Displaced native Middle English aske, from Old English āþexe (> modern English ask, askard).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪz.əd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪz.ɚd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪzə(ɹ)d

Noun

lizard (plural lizards)

1. Any reptile of the order Squamata that is not a snake or an amphisbaenian, usually having four legs, external ear openings, movable eyelids and a long slender body and tail.
   • a. 1823 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Hymn of Pan”, in Mary W[ollstonecraft] Shelley, editor, Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley, London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John and Henry L[eigh] Hunt, […], published 1824, →OCLC, page 169:

     The cicale above in the lime, / And the lizards below in the grass, / Were as silent as ever old Tmolus was, / Listening to my sweet pipings.

   • 1851, John Ruskin, chapter XX, in The Stones of Venice, volume I (The Foundations), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, § XXX, pages 223–224:

     The forms of the serpent and lizard exhibit almost every element of beauty and horror in strange combination; […]

   • 1895, J[ohn] W[esley] Powell, chapter I, in Canyons of the Colorado, Meadville, PA: Flood & Vincent; republished as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, New York: Dover, 1961, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 22:

     Hooded rattlesnakes, horned toads, and lizards crawl in the dust and among the rocks.

2. (chiefly in attributive use) Lizard skin, the skin of these reptiles.
   • 1990 October 28, Paul Simon, “Proof”, in The Rhythm of the Saints, Warner Bros.:

     Silver bells jingling from your black lizard boots, my baby / Silver foil to trim your wedding gown

3. (colloquial) An unctuous person.
4. (colloquial) A coward.
5. (rock paper scissors) A hand forming a "D" shape with the tips of the thumb and index finger touching (a handshape resembling a lizard), that beats paper and Spock and loses to rock and scissors in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.
6. (in compounds) A person who idly spends time in a specified place, especially a promiscuous female.

   lounge lizard; lot lizard; beach lizard; truck stop lizard

Derived terms

• alderman lizard
• alligator lizard
• alpine meadow lizard
• basilisk lizard
• beaded lizard
• bearded lizard
• bleed the lizard
• blue-tongued lizard
• blue-tongue lizard
• bobtail lizard
• bunk lizard
• caiman lizard
• canteen lizard
• changeable lizard
• Chinese crocodile lizard
• collared lizard
• crib lizard
• dabb lizard
• draco lizard
• dragon lizard
• drain the lizard
• Eastwood's whip lizard
• fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus)
• flying lizard (Draco spp.)
• frilled lizard
• frilled neck lizard
• frilled-neck lizard
• frill-necked lizard
• frilly lizard
• fringe-toed lizard
• fuck-you lizard
• glass lizard
• Goldman's bunchgrass lizard
• horned lizard
• house lizard
• Jesus lizard, Jesus Christ lizard
• Jew lizard (Pogona barbata)
• La Gomera giant lizard
• legless lizard (Pygopodidae spp.)
• leopard lizard
• lesbian lizard
• lion lizard
• lizard beetle
• lizard brain
• lizard brained, lizard-brained
• lizard catshark (Schroederichthys saurisqualus)
• lizard fish (Synodontidae spp.)
• lizard-folk
• lizard hawk (Kaupifalco monogrammicus)
• lizard man
• lizard orchid (Himantoglossum hircinum)
• lizard plant (Tetrastigma voinierianum)
• lizard-skin
• lizard snake (Thamnophis spp.)
• lizard-stone
• lizard tail (Saururus spp., Piper spp.)
• lot lizard
• lounge lizard, lounge-lizard
• mimic glass lizard
• monitor lizard
• Monte Cristo arboreal alligator lizard
• night lizard
• ocellated lizard
• pinecone lizard (Tiliqua rugosa)
• pine lizard (Sceloporus undulatus)
• pit lizard
• plated lizard
• regal horned lizard
• rock lizard
• sailfin lizard
• Saint Croix ground lizard
• sand lizard
• side-blotched lizard
• sleepy lizard (Tiliqua rugosa)
• snake lizard
• spiny-tailed lizard
• star lizard
• stump-tailed lizard (Trachysaurus rugosus)
• Tenerife giant lizard
• Texas spiny lizard
• thunder lizard
• tree lizard (Urosaurus spp)
• viviparous lizard
• wall lizard
• Wegner's glass lizard
• western fence lizard
• woodlizard
• worm lizard (Amphisbaenia spp.)
• zebra-tailed lizard

 

Translations

reptile

• Abenaki: kakadôlôgw
• Adyghe: щыдырхъуае (śədərχʷaje), хьамплъыжь (ḥamplˢəź)
• Afrikaans: akkedis (af)
• Akan: ɔketew
• Akkadian: 𒅴 𒋃 (ṣurārû)
• Albanian: hardhucë (sq) f, hardhje (sq) f, hardhël m
• Amharic: እንሽላሊት (ʾənšəlalit)
• Arabic: سِحْلِيَّة f (siḥliyya), ضَبّ m (ḍabb), عَظَاءَة f (ʕaẓāʔa), بُرْص m (burṣ)

  Egyptian Arabic: سِحْلِيَّة f (siḥliyya)

  Hijazi Arabic: سَحْلِيَّة f (saḥliyya)

  Iraqi Arabic: بريعصي f (bṛīʕṣi)

  Lebanese Arabic: حردون f (ḥardown)

  Moroccan Arabic: بوبريص m (būbrīṣ)

  South Levantine Arabic: سَحْلِيَّة f (saḥliyye), حردون f (ḥardōn)

• Aragonese: sargantana
• Armenian: մողես (hy) (moġes)
• Assamese: জেঠি (zethi)
• Asturian: llagartesa (ast) f
• Aymara: jararankha
• Azerbaijani: kərtənkələ (az)
• Bashkir: кеҫәртке (keśərtke)
• Basque: musker
• Belarusian: я́шчарка (be) f (jáščarka)
• Bengali: টিকটিকি (bn) (ṭikṭiki)
• Bhojpuri: छिपकली (chipakᵊlī)
• Breton: kazh-raden
• Brunei Malay: cacak
• Buginese: cica
• Bulgarian: гу́щер (bg) m (gúšter)
• Burmese: အိမ်မြှောင် (my) (imhmraung)
• Buryat: гүрбэл (gürbel)
• Catalan: llangardaix (ca) m, sargantana (ca) f
• Catawba: wapiri
• Chechen: моьлкъа (mölqʼa)
• Cherokee: ᏙᏲᎯᎳ (doyohila), ᏘᏲᎭᎵ (tiyohali)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 蜥蜴 (sik¹ jik⁶), 四腳蛇／四脚蛇 (sei³ goek³ se⁴)

  Dungan: шәчунзы (šəčunzɨ), шәмачунзы (šəmačunzɨ)

  Eastern Min: 杜墊／杜垫 (dô-dâing)

  Hakka: 狗嫲蛇 (kiéu-mà-sà), 山狗太 (sân-kiéu-thai), 蜥蜴 (sit-thit)

  Hokkien: 蜥蜴 (sek-e̍k), 杜定 (zh-min-nan) (tō͘-tēng)

  Mandarin: 蜥蜴 (zh) (xīyì)

  Northern Min: 四跤蛇 (si̿-káu-ṳê)

  Wu: 四腳蛇／四脚蛇

  Xiang: 四腳蛇／四脚蛇 (si⁴ jio⁶ sha²)

• Chiricahua: ma’ishǫ́í
• Chuvash: калта (kalt̬a)
• Cornish: peswarpaw m, pajarpaw m, pedrevan f
• Crimean Tatar: kesertki (northern dialect kesquyruq)
• Czech: ještěrka (cs) f, ještěr (cs) m
• Dalmatian: lačar f
• Danish: firben (da) n, øgle (da) c
• Daur: isel
• Dutch: hagedis (nl) m
• Dzongkha: ཙི་ཙི་དམརམོ (tsi tsi dmrmo)
• Egyptian: (ꜥšꜣ m)
• Elfdalian: ella f
• Emilian: (Reggio Emilia) arzintèla f, (Bologna) lusért f, (Modena) luśèrta f
• Erzya: метьказ (meťkaz)
• Esperanto: lacerto (eo)
• Estonian: sisalik (et)
• Even: исэл (isəl)
• Faroese: edla f, ødla f
• Finnish: lisko (fi)
• French: lézard (fr) m
• Friulian: lisierte f
• Gagauz: guşter
• Galician: lagarto (gl) m, lagartixa f
• Georgian: ხვლიკი (ka) (xvliḳi)
• German: Eidechse (de) f (small), Echse (de) f

  Alemannic German: Heidenëchsli n, Heidëchsli n, Aaideggs n

• Greek: σαύρα (el) f (sávra)

  Ancient: σαύρα f (saúra)

• Greenlandic: sisamavilik
• Guaraní: teju
• Haitian Creole: leza
• Hausa: ƙadangare
• Hawaiian: moʻo
• Hebrew: לְטָאָה (he) f (leta'á), חַרדוֹן (he) f (khardón)
• Hiligaynon: tiki
• Hindi: छिपकली (hi) f (chipkalī)
• Hungarian: gyík (hu)
• Icelandic: eðla (is) f
• Ido: lacerto (io) m
• Igbo: ugwere
• Ilocano: alutiit
• Indonesian: kadal (id)
• Ingrian: suenliika, sysälikko
• Ingush: шолкъ (šolqʼ)
• Interlingua: lacerta
• Irish: earc m, laghairt f
• Italian: lucertola (it) f
• Japanese: 蜥蜴 (ja) (とかげ, tokage), トカゲ (ja) (tokage)
• Javanese: kadhal (jv)
• Kalmyk: гүрвлдә (gürvldä)
• Kanakanabu: tavincangai
• Kannada: ಹಲ್ಲಿ (kn) (halli)
• Kapampangan: lupisak
• Karachay-Balkar: гургун (gurgun) (Balkar), кеселекке (keselekke) (Karachay)
• Karakalpak: kesirtke
• Kashmiri: کینٛکہٕ لٔٹ (kēnkụ lạṭ), کرٛینٛکہٕ لٔٹ (krēnkụ lạṭ)
• Kayapó: êtuwa
• Kazakh: кесіртке (kesırtke)
• Ket: тульн
• Khakas: килескі (kileskì)
• Khiamniungan Naga: tshò
• Khmer: ជីងចក់ (ciing cɑk)
• Kikuyu: njagathi class 9
• Klamath-Modoc: qiiɁa
• Korean: 도마뱀 (ko) (domabaem)
• Kumyk: гесертки (gesertki), гьалкъа (halqa)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: مارمێلکە (ckb) (marmêlke)

• Kyrgyz: кескелдирик (ky) (keskeldirik)
• Lao: ກະປອມ (ka pǭm), ຈີ່ໂປ່ມ (chī pōm), ປອມຂາງ (pǭm khāng)
• Latgalian: škierzlots
• Latin: lacerta (la) f
• Latvian: ķirzaka f
• Laz: მთხოლარი (mtxolari)
• Lezgi: чурчул (čurčul)
• Ligurian: grîgoa
• Limburgish: aektes (li) m
• Lithuanian: dríežas m
• Low German:

  Dutch Low Saxon: evertaske (Gronings, Stellingwerfs), eveltasse (Drents, Twents)

  German Low German: Adderditsch, Eerdditsch (Holstein), Eevtask, Evertasch

• Luxembourgish: Eidechs f, Omes f
• Macedonian: гуштер m (gušter)
• Malagasy: androngo (mg)
• Malay: cicak (ms)
• Malayalam: പല്ലി (ml) (palli)
• Maltese: wiżgħa f, gremxula f
• Manx: jialgheer m
• Maori: ngārara, ngaha, moko, kumukumu
• Marathi: सरडा (sarḍā)
• Mari:

  Western Mari: шӓкшӓльӹ (šäkšäĺÿ)

• Mauritian Creole: lezar
• Mingrelian: ხვილარი (xvilari)
• Mokilese: kiele, kijesik
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: гүрвэл (mn) (gürvel)

• Nahuatl:

  Central: cuetzpalin

  Central Huasteca: ketspali

  Classical: cuetzpalin

• Nanai: исэлэн (iselen)
• Nanticoke: oh!kaush-kiss
• Navajo: naʼashǫ́ʼii
• Neapolitan: lacierto m
• Nepali: छेपारो (chepāro)
• Newar: माय्‌बिलि (mæbili)
• Norman: lêzarde f (Jersey)
• Northern Sami: deaččalakkis
• Northern Yukaghir: валудул (waludul)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: øgle m or f, firfisle m or f

  Nynorsk: øgle f, firfisle f

• Occitan: cernalha (oc) f, angròla (oc) f
• Odia: ଝିଟିପିଟି (or) (jhiṭipiṭi)
• Old Church Slavonic: ащера f (aštera)
• Old English: āþexe f
• Old Saxon: egithassa f
• Orok: эсилэ (əsilə)
• Ossetian: гӕгкуыри (gægk°yri), гӕккуыритӕ (gækk°yritæ)
• Pannonian Rusyn: ящурка f (jaščurka)
• Papiamentu: lagadishi
• Pashto: لټکه f (laṭᶕka)
• Persian:

  Dari: چَلْپَاسَه (fa) (čalpāsa)

  Iranian Persian: مارْمولَک (fa) (mârmulak), سوسْمار (fa) (susmâr)

• Piedmontese: lazerta f
• Plautdietsch: Äajdakjs f, Äajdakjsel m
• Polish: jaszczurka (pl) f
• Portuguese: lagarto (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਕਿਰਲੀ (pa) f (kirlī), کِرلی f (kirlī)
• Q'eqchi: tolokok
• Quechua: qaraywa, ararankha
• Rapa Nui: moko
• Romanian: șopârlă (ro) f
• Romansch: lischerna f, luschard m
• Russian: я́щерица (ru) f (jáščerica), я́щерка (ru) f (jáščerka) я́щер (ru) m (jáščer) (large one, including dinosaurs)
• Samoan: mo'o
• Samogitian: drėižā m
• Sanskrit: मुषली (sa) (muṣalī)
• Sardinian: tiligherta f, tilicherta f, tilicheta f, tziligherta f, lugesti, lucesti, lugestra, luxeta, atalighelte, atalighelta f, atiligherta f, cabixeta f, calaxerta f, calixerta f, caluxerta f
• Scots: lizard
• Scottish Gaelic: laghairt m or f, dearc-luachrach f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: гу̏штер m

  Roman: gȕšter (sh) m

• Seychellois Creole: lezar
• Shona: dzvinyu
• Shor: келескин (keleskin)
• Sicilian: gièrdula (scn) f, lucerta (scn) f, lucèrtula (scn) f
• Silesian: jaszczurki f
• Sinhalese: කටුස්සා (kaṭussā)
• Slovak: jašter (sk) m, jašterica (sk) f
• Slovene: kuščar (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: jašćeŕ m, jašćerica f

  Upper Sorbian: ješćelca f

• Southern Altai: келескен (kelesken)
• Spanish: lagarto (es) m, lagartija (es) f (small), chenca f (tailless)
• Sranan Tongo: lagadisa
• Svan: ჰა̈შდა̈კუ̂ (häšdäḳû)
• Swahili: mjusi
• Swedish: ödla (sv) c
• Tagalog: butiki
• Tajik: калтакалос (kaltakalos), калпеса (kalpesa)
• Tamil: பல்லி (ta) (palli)
• Taos: kʼùołàxenloʼóna
• Tarifit: azermummu m, tazermummešt f, aḥarmšar m
• Tatar: кәлтә (tt) (kältä)
• Telugu: బల్లి (te) (balli)
• Thai: กิ้งก่า (th) (gîng-gàa)
• Tibetan: རྩངས་པ། (rtsangs pa)
• Tigrinya: ጠበቕ (ṭäbäḳʰ)
• Tongan: moko
• Tsakhur: баӏнек, калез
• Tswana: kgatlampane
• Turkish: kertenkele (tr)
• Turkmen: kelpeze, suwulgan, hažžyk, paşlak (پاشلق، پاشلاق) (Yomut, Iran), as (tk) (small)
• Tuvan: селеске (seleske)
• Ukrainian: я́щірка (uk) f (jáščirka)
• Urdu: چِھپْکَلی f (chipkalī)
• Uyghur: كەسلەنچۈك (keslenchük)
• Uzbek: kaltakesak (uz)
• Venetan: luxèrta f, łuxèrtoła f, luxèrtola f, uxèrta f, oxèrtola f, lisarda f, ixèrdola f, risàrdoła f, ruxèrtola f, bisèrgoła f, tarantèla f
• Vietnamese: thằn lằn (vi)
• Vilamovian: edikjys n
• Volapük: lasär (vo)
• Walloon: cwarpece (wa) f, cwate-peces (wa) f
• Welsh: madfall (cy) f
• West Flemish: aketissn m
• West Frisian: hagedis c
• Western Apache: na’ishǫ́’
• White Hmong: ntses qa
• Yakut: күлгэри (külgeri), тыймыыт (tıymııt)
• Yiddish: יאַשטשערקע f (yashtsherke)
• Yoruba: aláǹgbá
• Zazaki: marmalok c pl
• Zhuang: duzcoengmax

unctuous person

coward — see coward

Middle English

Noun

lizard

1. Alternative form of lesarde