amphibian
noun
- class of tetrapods, whose living forms include frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L334419 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /æmˈfɪbɪən/
adj
Etymology: Learned borrowing from Latin amphibius [from Ancient Greek ἀμφίβιος (amphíbios), from ἀμφίς (amphís, “of both kinds”) + βίος (bíos, “life”)] + -an.
- Of or relating to the class Amphibia.
- Capable of operating on both land and water; amphibious.
- Having two natures.
noun
Etymology: Learned borrowing from Latin amphibius [from Ancient Greek ἀμφίβιος (amphíbios), from ἀμφίς (amphís, “of both kinds”) + βίος (bíos, “life”)] + -an.
- An animal of the Amphibia; any vertebrate that does not have amniotic eggs, living both on land and in water.
- A vehicle which can operate on both land and water.
- A person with two distinct characters, qualities or identities.
“The prime exemplar of such a cast of mind must be Johann Ladislas Pyrker, a definite amphibian and ‘Austro-Hungarian’ in his literary and in his public life. The son of another estate bailiff in Transdanubia, Pyrker became successively a Hungarian official, an Austrian monk and at length a fairly worldly abbot at Lilienfeld, then a bishop in Hungary, patriarch of Venice, and archbishop in Hungary again.”