crocodile English · revision 994

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkɹɒkədaɪl/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkɹɑkədaɪl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a 16th-century respelling, after Latin, of [[inh|enm|cokedrille]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|fro|cocodrille]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|la-med|cocodrillus]], an alteration of [[la|crocodīlus]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|κροκόδειλος|tr=krokódeilos|t=lizard, crocodile]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) Herodotus says it was an Ionic name for a lizard, transferred to the crocodile of the Nile.^(Etymonline)^(AHD) The Greek word is often explained as ''krókē'' “pebble” and ''drîlos'' “worm”, a “worm of the stones”,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) but Beekes rejects this, and Etymonline calls it of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The large amphibious reptile (c. 1300).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The crocodile was fabled to weep while luring or devouring its prey,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the story of ''crocodile tears'', for false grief, was known in English from about 1400.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The modern spelling dates from 1563.^(Barnhart 1995) The name was extended to related reptiles of India and the Americas.^(Etymonline) In British colloquial use a ''crocodile'' is a line of schoolchildren walking two by two (1891).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – the reptile.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1400 – the weeping of the crocodile.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1563 – the spelling ''crocodile''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1595 – a person who weeps hypocritically.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1891 – a file of schoolchildren.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1907 – crocodile skin.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of several large, thick-skinned aquatic [[reptile|alt=reptiles]] of the genus ''Crocodylus'' of tropical regions, with long tapering jaws.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Any [[crocodilian]], such as an [[alligator]] or [[caiman]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # Leather made from crocodile skin.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # ''(chiefly British)'' A line of people, especially schoolchildren, walking in pairs.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[crocodile tears]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[crocodilian]]

+ * [[alligator]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}