Defn: One of the Reptilia, or one of the Amphibia.
Note: The amphibians were formerly classed with Reptilia, and are still popularly called reptiles, though much more closely allied to the fishes.
3. A groveling or very mean person.
REPTILIA
Rep*til"i*a (rp-tl"-), n.pl. Etym: [NL.] (Zoöl.)
Defn: A class of air-breathing oviparous vertebrates, usually covered with scales or bony plates. The heart generally has two auricles and one ventricle. The development of the young is the same as that of birds.
Note: It is nearly related in many respects to Aves, or birds. The
principal existing orders are Testidunata or Chelonia (turtles),
Crocodilia, Lacertilla (lizards), Ophidia (serpents), and
Rhynchocephala; the chief extinct orders are Dinosauria, Theremorpha,
Mosasauria, Pterosauria, Plesiosauria, Ichtyosauria.
REPTILIAN
Rep*til"i*an (-an), a.
Defn: Belonging to the reptiles. Reptilian age (Geol.), that part of geological time comprising the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods, and distinguished as that era in which the class of reptiles attained its highest expansion; — called also the Secondary or Mezozoic age.
REPTILIAN
Rep*til"i*an, n. (Zoöl.)
Defn: One of the Reptilia; a reptile.