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heterodont.

Having teeth of different types (like most mammals).

10 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈhɛtəɹəʊdɒnt/Received-Pronunciation/ˈhɛtɹəʊdɒnt/Received-Pronunciation/ˈhɛtəɹəˌdɑnt/General-American/ˈhɛtɹə-/General-American
  1. Having teeth of different types (like most mammals).

    not-comparable
  2. Of bivalves or their hinge teeth: having two to three wedge-shaped cardinal teeth set in the centre near the umbones, generally also with elongated lateral teeth on the anterior and posterior margins.

    not-comparable
    The heterodont arrangement is characteristic of the Venus clams and cockles.
Where this word comes from

From hetero- (prefix meaning ‘different’) + -odont (suffix meaning ‘tooth; toothed’). Hetero- is derived from Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros, “one or the other of two; different”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together; one”); while -odont is from Ancient Greek ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth; tusk”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- (“to bite”) + *-ónts (suffix forming nouns denoting body parts). By surface analysis, hetero- + -odont.

noun/ˈhɛtəɹəʊdɒnt/Received-Pronunciation/ˈhɛtɹəʊdɒnt/Received-Pronunciation/ˈhɛtəɹəˌdɑnt/General-American/ˈhɛtɹə-/General-American
  1. A heterodont animal.

  2. A heterodont animal. A heterodont bivalve.

  3. A snake of the genus Heterodon which is native to North America.

Where this word comes from

From hetero- (prefix meaning ‘different’) + -odont (suffix meaning ‘tooth; toothed’). Hetero- is derived from Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros, “one or the other of two; different”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together; one”); while -odont is from Ancient Greek ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth; tusk”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- (“to bite”) + *-ónts (suffix forming nouns denoting body parts). By surface analysis, hetero- + -odont.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.