Polyodontous

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Characterized by having many teeth; describing animals or organisms possessing numerous individual teeth; pertaining to dental structures that are abundant in number
2. Denoting the condition of bearing multiple teeth; relating to species or entities with a high tooth count; indicative of a morphology featuring numerous teeth
3. Referring to the trait of numerous tooth presence; applied to creatures or specimens exhibiting many teeth; associated with dental arrangements where teeth are plentiful

Etymology: "Polyodontous" is built entirely from Greek parts, which were assembled in modern scientific Latin rather than by the ancient Greeks. "Poly-" means "many" and "odont-" comes from "odous," the Greek word for "tooth," the same root that gives English "orthodontist" and "mastodon," the extinct elephant-like animal whose name means "nipple-tooth" for its cone-shaped molars. Adding the adjective ending "-ous" yields a term that describes an animal or organism with many teeth. Such a word belongs to the vocabulary of zoology and paleontology, where precise descriptions of tooth counts and arrangements help distinguish species. Because the word is a technical coinage, its use is confined mostly to scientific writing rather than everyday speech.

Synonyms: many-toothed, multidentate

Antonyms: edentulous, toothless