lizard

lizard
  (ˈlɪzəd)
  Forms: 4–5 lesard(e, lisard, 4 liserd, lusarde, 5 lesere, lizart, 6 lisarde, lessert, lucert, lycert, -sert, lyzard, -erd, leazard, Sc. lyssard, 7 lyser, lezard, lisart, lyzard, lizzard, 6– lizard.
  [a. OF. lesard masc., lesarde fem. (mod.F. lézard, lézarde) (= Pr. lazert, lauzert, Sp., Pg. lagarto, It. lacerta, lucerta), repr. L. lacertus masc., lacerta fem., lizard; the ending in OF. would normally have been -ert, -erte, but was assimilated to the suffix -ard.]
  1. a. A name popularly applied to reptiles of the genus Lacerta, and to other reptiles resembling these in shape and general appearance, having an elongated body, a long tail, four legs, and a scaly or granulated hide. Ordinarily, the name relates to the small animals of the genus Lacerta and other genera of the order Lacertilia; by extension, animals like the crocodile, the agama, the iguana, or the great fossil saurians, are often spoken of as lizards. In scientific books, the name is commonly used as coextensive with that of the order Lacertilia, which includes many animals which, as lacking either limbs or scales, or both, would not be popularly regarded as ‘lizards’.

1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 335 Thus ylyke a lusarde with a lady visage, Theuelich þow [sc. Satan] me robbedest. 1382 Wyclif Lev. xi. 30 A lacert, that is a serpent that is clepid a liserd. c 1400–50 Alexander 3573 Bestis..As lebards, lesards, & lenxis, lions & tigris. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1056 A floor..So maad that lisardis may not ascende. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 298/1 Lesarde wy[r]m, lacertus. c 1483 Caxton Dialogues (E.E.T.S.) viii. 28 Men ete not..Of bestes venemous:—Serpentes, lizarts, scorpions. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. i. xxv, The feild was odious Quhair dragouns, lessertis, askis, edders swatterit. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 244 You shall give your hawke two inches of a Lucert's tayle newly cut off. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 220 The thirde kinde of Orchios, called in Latine Hirci testiculus... Upon the..stemme groweth a greate many of small floures..much like..to a Lezarde. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 325 Their softest Touch, as smart as Lyzards stings. 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iii. Law 450 As starry Lezards in the Summer time Upon the wals of broken houses clime. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 17 Adders Forke, and Blindewormes Sting, Lizards legge, and Howlets wing. 1611 Bible Lev. xi. 30 These also shalbe vncleane vnto you,..the Cameleon, and the Lyzard. 1648 Gage West Ind. xii. (1655) 45 Mans flesh, which the great Lisarts, or Caimains eat very well. 1663 Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. ii. i. 18 Of lizards it hath been observed..that their tails being struck off will grow again. 1728 Ramsay Twa Lizards 14 In Nilus giant Lizards sport, Ca'd Crocodiles. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 119 The scales of the lizard seem stuck upon the body even closer than those of fishes. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. cxvii, Through the grass The quick-eyed lizard rustles. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh 313 Lizards, the green lightenings of the wall. 1864 Tennyson En. Ard. 602 He watch'd..So still, the golden lizard on him paused.

  b. applied, with qualifying word, to many species of the genus Lacerta (see quots.).

1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. viii. 160/1 This is generally called by the name of a Green Lizard, but in the Summer time they are paler. 1693 Ray Syn. Meth. Anim. Quadr. 264 Lacertus viridis, the green Lizard. 1751 G. Edwards Nat. Hist. Birds II 248 Lacertus minor, cinereus maculatus, Asiaticus. The small spotted grey Lizard. 1769 Pennant Zool. III. 16 The Brown Lizard. 1801 Southey Thalaba iv. v, And his awaken'd ear Heard the grey Lizard's chirp. 1838 T. Bell Brit. Reptiles 17 Sand Lizard. Lacerta agilis. Linn. Ibid. 32 Viviparous Lizard. Nimble Lizard. Common Lizard. Zootoca vivipara. 1883 Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 274 The other species of Lacerta, which may be seen frequently on the Continent of Europe, are the Green (Lacerta viridis) and the Ocellate (L. ocellata) Lizards, and the lively little Wall Lizard (L. muralis). 1896 Roy. Nat. Hist. (ed. Lydekker) V. 159 The pearly lizard (Lacerta ocellata) of Southern Europe, may be taken as our first example of the typical genus Lacerta. Ibid. 161 The..sand-, or hedge-lizard (L. agilis).

  c. applied, with qualifying word, to other genera of Lacertilia and Batrachia. anguine lizard, Chamæsaura anguina. croaking lizard (see quot.). flying lizard, Draco volans. water lizard, (a) a tailed batrachian, newt; (b) a varanian, monitor. Also fence, frill or frilled, ground, lace, lion, sail lizard.

1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 457/1 The Monodactyle or *Anguine lizard.

1885 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) III. 408 In the island of Jamaica, the *croaking-lizard, Thecadactylus lævis, is a most abundant..animal.

1693 Ray Syn. Meth. Anim. Quadr. 275 Lacerta volans Indica, the *Flying Indian Lizard. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1824) III. 165 The whole race of dragons is dwindled down to the Flying Lizard.

1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. viii. 160/1 The Neute, Asker, or *Water Lizard are one and the same Creature. 1883 Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 277 The largest known Lizards belong to the family of Water Lizards, Monitoridæ, or Platynota.

  d. Lizard skin. Also attrib.

1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 100/1 Ladies' pocket books... Light American lizard grained leather. 1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 495/3 Manicure cases... Polished lizard with silver gilt fittings. 1957 M. B. Picken Fashion Dict. 215/1 Lizard, leather made from lizard skins. 1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 238 Lizard, scaly skin of the lizard from Java and India. Used mainly for shoes and handbags, it is harsh and not pliable. 1974 A. Laski Night Music 134 Her good navy lizard shoes and bag.

  2. † a. lazy lizard: a term of reproach applied to a slothful person. Obs.

1600 J. Lane Tom Tel-troth (1876) 128 And there this lazie lizard soundly sleeped. 1629 Symmer Spir. Posie i. ix. 30 The sluggard, the lazie Lizzard, and the luskish Lubby?

  b. Austral. and N.Z. slang. A musterer of sheep; a man employed to maintain boundary fences.

1931 ‘W. Hatfield’ Sheepmates xv. 121 You'd be better out in the camp with me than crawlin' around a fence like a fly-catcher lizard. 1933 L. G. D. Acland in Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) 4 Nov. 15/7 Lizard, slang for musterer, I suppose, because they both crawl over the hills. 1937 A. W. Upfield Winds of Evil xviii. 175 What bloke wouldn't be depressed at coming down to a fence lizard?.. Come down to fencin' and you want to know why a bloke's depressed. 1945 Baker Austral. Lang. ii. iii. 63 Shepherds have been known variously as lizards, crawlers.

  c. = lounge lizard.

1935 E. Pound Let. Feb. (1971) 269 Alas, as you are writing English, you can't call them there bloody gallants, ‘cake-eaters’ or ‘lizards’, ‘dudes’, ‘gigolos’, ‘young scum’ [etc.].

  3. a. A figure of a lizard; esp. in Heraldry.

1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. viii. 160/1 He beareth Argent, a Lizard, Vert, countergoing, a Newte or Asker, proper. 1868 Cussans Her. (1893) 340 The Ironmongers Crest: Two Lizards erect, combattant, proper, chained and collared or.

  ¶ b. ? Confused with lucern.

1780 Edmondson Her. II. Gloss., Lizard, or Lezard, a beast somewhat like a mountain or wild-cat, with a short tail, and long dark-brown hair, spotted... It is the crest and dexter supporter to the arms of the Skinners' Company of London.

  4. A fancy variety of the canary. In full lizard canary.

1865 Derby Mercury 25 Jan., The gold and silver spangled lizards were very superior. 1876 R. L. Wallace Canary Bk. xiv. 164 The Lizard... Lizard canaries are more frequently tampered with than any other variety by unprincipled exhibitors.

  5. Naut. A piece of rope having a thimble or block spliced into one or both ends.

1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 169 Lizard, an iron thimble spliced into the main-bowlines, and pointed over to hook a tackle to. c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 19 At the quarters, quarter strops and lizzard. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 44 The other end is secured with a lizard to the opposite quarter. Ibid. 137 The lizard is sometimes only a pendant.

  6. A crotch of timber or a forked limb, used as a sled to support a stone being hauled off a field; a stone-boat (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875).
  ¶ 7. = lacert². obs. rare^—1.

1574 J. Jones Nat. Beginning Grow. Things 24 Sinews, muscles, lizards, tendones, gristles, bones.

  8. attrib. and Comb., as lizard-kind, lizard shape, lizard tribe; lizard-like, adj.; lizard-bird, dragon, animals half lizard and half bird or dragon; lizard canary (see 4); † lizard fish, (a) the horse-mackerel or scad; (b) a fish of the genus Synodus; lizard-green, a colour resembling that of the green lizard; also as adj.; lizard orchis, the plant Orchis hircina (see quot. 1578 in 1); lizard-seeker, one of the West Indian genus Saurothera, of ground-cuckoos, so called because the birds live much on lizards (Ogilvie Suppl. 1855); lizard-skin a., made of the skin of a lizard; lizard wine (see quot.).

1862 G. Wilson Relig. Chem. 39 The heroes of the geological bas-reliefs are ichthyosaurs,..*lizard-birds, gigantic crocodiles [etc.]. 1911 Kipling in Fletcher & Kipling School Hist. Eng. i. 9, I remember the bat-winged lizard-birds.

1883 R. Jefferies Story Heart ii. (1891) 19 The *lizard-dragon wallowing in sea foam.

1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Lacertus..the *lizard fish,..a fish of the cuculus kind, much resembling the common mackerel..and more usually called trachurus. 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Fishes N. Amer. (Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. III.) 279 Synodus. Lizard-fishes. Ibid. 280 S. foetens..Sand Pike; Lizard-fish.

1897 Daily News 9 Sept. 6/5 A graduated panel of white cloth braided in *lizard-green. 1899 Ibid. 28 Jan. 6/4 Lizard-green satin.

1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1824) III. vi. 157 The modern salamander is an animal of the *lizard kind.

1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. III. xlviii. 343 His most *lizard⁓like expression.

179. Nemnich Polyglotten-Lex., *Lizard orchis. Orchis coriophora. 1882 Garden 11 Feb. 89/1 That curious and nearly extinct native, the Lizard Orchis.

1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Iguana, It is an amphibious animal, of the *lizard shape.

1895 Zangwill Master ii. iii. 156 He pulled out a *lizard-skin case.

1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1824) III. vi. 158 This animal..differs from the rest of the *lizard tribe.

1894 Daily News 15 Sept. 5/4 A curious article of export from Pakhoi (China) is dried lizards..They are used for making a medicine called ‘*lizard wine’.

  b. with lizard's, in the names of plants, as lizard's herb, tail, tongue (see quots.).

1866 Treas. Bot., *Lizard's herb, Goniophlebium trilobium.

1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. App., *Lizard's tail, the English name of a genus of plants, described by Linnæus under that of Saururus. 1866 Treas. Bot., Saururus,..It has..small white flowers, nearly sessile in a slender naked terminal spike, from which the plant has derived the popular name of Lizard's-tail.

Ibid., *Lizard's tongue, Sauroglossum.

Oxford English Dictionary