ophidian
Syllables: ophid·i·an/oʊˈfɪdi.ən/
ophidian noun: any species of the suborder Serpentes; a snake or serpent.
Noun
ophidian (plural ophidians)
- Any species of the suborder Serpentes; a snake or serpent.
- Vertebral structure is critical for the identification of fossil snakes, because vertebrae are among the most easily fossilized parts of ophidians.1997, Olivier Rieppel, “chapter 2: The Lepidosauromorpha: an overview with special emphasis on the Squamata”, in Nicholas C. Fraser, Hans-Dieter Sues, editors, In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs: Early...
- It has long been known that ophidians have lost not only their front legs but also every embryonic trace of these limbs and their associated shoulder girdle (to such a degree that we cannot determine how many cervical vertebrae they have).2011, Didier Marchand, “Chapter 11: The Logic of Forms in the Light of Developmental Biology and Palaeontology”, in Paul Bourgine, editor, Morphogenesis, page 205
Adjective
ophidian (comparative more ophidian, superlative most ophidian)
- Of or pertaining to the suborder Serpentes; of, related to, or characteristic of a snake or serpent.
- The ophidian beast began to glow eerily, and Aaron could discern a fine webwork of veins and capillaries running throughout the creature's body.2009, Thomas E. Sniegoski, The Fallen, Simon Pulse, published 2003, →ISBN, page 115
- A less obvious asset of snakes is their very light and supple jaws, which arose in the course of ophidian evolution to permit the ingestion of extraordinarily large meals (at maximum, more than 100% of their body mass).2009, Rosemary G. Gillespie, D. A. Clague, editors, Encyclopedia of Islands, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 843
- Synonyms:
- anguine
ophidian meaning in Tamil
ophidian in Tamil
- பாம்பினஞ் சார்ந்த உயிர், பாம்பினஞ் சார்ந்த
Examples of ophidian in a sentence
- Siamese or double monsters are well known in saurians, chelonians, and ophidians, as are bicephalic, two-tailed and conjoined bodies (thoracodymus, ischiodymus, etc.).2012, Bruce M. Rothschild, Hans-Peter Schultze, Rodrigo Pellegrini, Herpetological Osteopathology: Annotated Bibliography of Amphibians and...
- Another ophidian deity recognizable in Classic reliefs is the Feathered Serpent, known to the Maya as Kukulcán (and to the Toltecs and Aztecs as Quetzalcóatl).2011, Kathleen Kuiper, editor, Pre-Columbian America: Empires of the New World, Britannica Educational Publishing, →ISBN, page 62:
Synonyms of ophidian
Forms of ophidian
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | ophidians |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more ophidian |
| superlative | most ophidian |
Origin of ophidian
From Latin ophidia (from Ancient Greek ὄφις (óphis, “snake”)) + -ian.
Words formed from ophidian
Words that rhyme with ophidian
- meridian
- Gideon
- quotidian
- Eridian
- euclidean
- Lydian
- nullifidian
- obsidian
- viridian
- aphidian
- ascidian
- enchiridion
2 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about ophidian
- What does ophidian mean?
- Ophidian means any species of the suborder Serpentes; a snake or serpent.
- What is ophidian in Tamil?
- Ophidian in Tamil is பாம்பினஞ் சார்ந்த உயிர், பாம்பினஞ் சார்ந்த. See Ophidian meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use ophidian in a sentence?
- Siamese or double monsters are well known in saurians, chelonians, and ophidians, as are bicephalic, two-tailed and conjoined bodies (thoracodymus, ischiodymus, etc.).
- What part of speech is ophidian?
- Ophidian can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce ophidian?
- Ophidian is pronounced /oʊˈfɪdi.ən/.
- What is the plural of ophidian?
- The plural of ophidian is ophidians.
Words near ophidian in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ophidian (page history and authors); ophidian (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ophidian.wav.
Cite this entry: “ophidian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ophidian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.