platyrhynchos
|pla-ty-rhyn-chos|
🇺🇸
/ˌplætəˈrɪŋkɑs/
🇬🇧
/ˌplætəˈrɪŋkɒs/
broad-billed
Etymology
'platyrhynchos' originates from Modern scientific Latin, ultimately borrowed from Ancient Greek 'platýrhynkhos', where 'platýs' meant 'broad, flat' and 'rhýnchos' meant 'snout, beak'.
'platýrhynkhos' from Ancient Greek was adopted into New Latin (biological nomenclature) as the specific epithet 'platyrhynchos' used in species names such as Anas platyrhynchos.
Initially it meant 'broad-snouted' or 'broad-beaked' in Greek; in scientific Latin it has been preserved as a descriptive epithet meaning 'broad-billed' for species names.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a Latinized specific epithet used in zoological binomials meaning 'broad-billed' or 'broad-snouted'; most famously the species name in Anas platyrhynchos (the mallard).
Anas platyrhynchos is commonly known as the mallard.
Adjective 1
formed from the epithet to describe having a broad or flat bill/beak; used descriptively in comparative anatomy or taxonomy.
Specimens with a platyrhynchos bill were noted in the study.
Last updated: 2026/01/06 02:35