crocodile

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun large voracious aquatic reptile having a long snout with massive jaws and sharp teeth and a body covered with bony plates; of sluggish tropical waters

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English cocodrill, cokadrill, cokedril, from Old French cocodril (modern French crocodile), from Medieval Latin cocodrillus, from Latin crocodilus, from Ancient Greek κροκόδειλος (krokódeilos). The word was later refashioned after the Latin and Greek forms. Doublet of krokodil.

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