mastodon
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mastodon¹
- /ˈmæs.tə.dɒn/ UK
- /ˈmæs.tə.dɑn/ US
- /ˈmæs.tə.dən/ US
Rhymes with -æstədɒn
Where it comes from
First attested 1813, from translingual Mastodon (1806), coined by French naturalist Georges Cuvier, from masto- (“breast”) + -odon (“tooth”), due to the mammilloid (“nipple-shaped”) projections on the crowns of the extinct mammal's molars.
noun mastodons · mastodont
-
Extinct elephant-like mammal of the genus †Mammut that flourished worldwide from Miocene through Pleistocene times; differs from elephants and mammoths in the form of the molar teeth.
When, exactly, Europeans first stumbled upon the bones of an American mastodon is unclear. An isolated molar unearthed in a field in upstate New York was sent off to London in 1705; it was labeled the “tooth of a Giant”.
Similar: incognitum
- Anything awkwardly large or unwieldy. The battery is dying, and Natalia's iPhone charger doesn't fit my mastodon of a phone anyway.
Mastodon²
- /ˈmæs.tə.dɒn/ UK
- /ˈmæs.tə.dɑn/ US
- /-dən/ US
Rhymes with -æstədɒn, -æstədən
Where it comes from
See mastodon.
proper noun
- A decentralized microblogging platform, part of the Fediverse. However, the underlying design of platforms within [The Free Network] such as Mastodon, Diaspora and others ... opens the door to security and harassment problems.
noun Mastodons
- A nickname for both the 4-8-0 and (though erroneously) the 4-10-0 train configurations.
Translations
Every language
noun extinct elephant-like mammal of the genus Mammut
| Español | mastodonte |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 乳齒象 /乳齿象 rǔchǐxiàng |
| Português | mastodonte |
| Français | mastodonte |
| Deutsch | Mastodon |
| Italiano | mastodonte |
| Ελληνικά | μαστόδοντας mastódontas |
| Română | mastodont |
| Русский | мастодо́нт mastodónt |
name decentralized online microblogging platform
| 한국어 | 마스토돈 Maseutodon |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | マストドン Masutodon |
| 中文 | 長毛象 /长毛象 chángmáoxiàng, 萬象 /万象 wànxiàng, 毛象 máoxiàng |
| Français | Mastodon |
| Deutsch | Mastodon |
| Ελληνικά | μαστόδοντας mastódontas |
| العربية | مَاسْتُودُون māstūdūn |
| עברית | מסטודון |
Talk about this word "mastodon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mastodon. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. mastodon. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mastodon "mastodon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mastodon.Cite this
@misc{mastodon_2026,
title = {mastodon},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mastodon},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
