pterodáctilo

• pterodactylo, ptero-dactylo (pre-standardization spelling)
• pterodátilo (Brazil)

Borrowed from French ptérodactyle, from Ancient Greek πτερόν (pterón, “wing”) + δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”). By surface analysis, ptero- +‎ -dáctilo. First attested in 1858.

• Rhymes: -aktilu
• Hyphenation: pte‧ro‧dác‧ti‧lo

pterodáctilo m (plural pterodáctilos)

1. (countable) pterodactyl (a pterosaur of the genus Pterodactylus)

   Hypernym: pterossauro

   • 1884 February 15, João Gualberto de Barros e Cunha, “A ascendencia das aves [The ascendency of birds]”, in O Panorama Contemporaneo, volume 1, number 6, Coimbra, page 48:

     De todos os precursores das aves propriamente dictas os mais notaveis foram de certo os pterodactylos, dragões colossaes com cabeça de reptil, fauces armadas de grandes dentes cónicos e agudos, tendo o ultimo dedo da mão desmedidamente alongado, e servindo sem duvida de sustento a uma aza membranosa como a dos morcegos; de resto os ossos, leves e cheios de ar como nas aves, indicam um animal formado especialmente para o voo.

     Of all the precursors of proper birds, the most notable certainly were the pterodactyls, colossal dragons with a reptile head, their faces armed with large, conical, sharp teeth, having their last finger excessively long and undoubtedly serving as support for a membranous wing like the bats'; for the bones, light and full of air like the birds, indicate an animal formed especially for flight.

   • 1922, Lima Barreto, “Os Samoyedas”, in Os Bruzundangas, Rio de Janeiro: Jacintho Ribeiro dos Santos, page 23:

     Acabava eu de assistir uma aula de geologia na Faculdade de Sciencias do paiz; o meu espirito, vinha cheio de silhuetas de monstros de outras epochas geologicas. Eram ichtyosauros, megatherios, mamuths; era do sinistro pterodactylo que eu me lembrava […]

     I've just attended a geology class at the country's Faculty of Sciences; my spirit came back full of silhouettes of monsters from other geological times. They were ichtyosaurs, megatheres, mammoths; it was the sinister pterodactyl that I remembered.

2. (loosely, proscribed) synonym of pterossauro (“pterosaur”)
   • 1858 December 30, “Carta II”, O Rio Paraná, in Correio Mercantil, volume XV, number 353, page 1, column 6:

     O saurio voraz e saltador se tornaria um pterodactylo; o pterodactylo que voasse muito alto se revestiria de pennas e se faria ave, e toda a natureza vivente seria uma serie de continuas metamorphoses.

     The voracious and jumping saurian would become the pterodactyl; the pterodactyl that flew too high would cover itself in feathers and turn into a bird, and all living nature would be a series of continuous metamorphoses.

• “pterodáctilo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “pterodáctilo”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “pterodáctilo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “pterodáctilo”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN

• terodáctilo (uncommon)

Borrowed from French ptérodactyle, from Ancient Greek πτερόν (pterón, “wing”) + δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”), equivalent to ptero- +‎ -dáctilo.

• IPA^(key): /teɾoˈdaɡtilo/ [t̪e.ɾoˈð̞aɣ̞.t̪i.lo]
• Rhymes: -aɡtilo
• Syllabification: pte‧ro‧dác‧ti‧lo

pterodáctilo m (plural pterodáctilos)

1. (countable) pterodactyl (a pterosaur of the genus Pterodactylus)

• “pterodáctilo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025