anole

noun

ano·​le ə-ˈnō-lē 

: any of a genus (Anolis) of arboreal American lizards (such as the green anole) of the iguana family that have a brightly colored dewlap and the ability to change color

Examples of anole in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

His team found that over time, brown anoles with longer legs had higher survival rates after the crested anoles showed up. —Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 30 Nov. 2024

The wee anole relies mostly on camouflage to hide from predators such as birds, snakes, mammals and other lizards. —Katie Hunt, CNN, 21 Sep. 2024

Anolis aquaticus, or the water anole, is a common lizard species native to Central America. —New Atlas, 22 Sep. 2024

But no one had figured out whether the animals were using these air pockets to prolong their underwater sojourns, which in wild water anoles can last up to 16 minutes. —Bysean Cummings, science.org, 17 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French anolis, borrowed from Dominica Island Carib anáoli

Note: The word apparently first appears solely in the form anolis in the anonymous Histoire naturelle et morale des Iles Antilles de l'Amerique (Rotterdam, 1658), attributed to a Huguenot clergyman named Charles de Rochefort (1605-83). In the text (p. 130-31) the word is only used in the plural, so that the singular is ambiguous, but an illustration of a single lizard on p. 135 has the caption Anolis. The form anolis, again only in the plural but without the illustration, is reproduced in an English translation by John Davies of Histoire naturelle et morale, entitled The History of the Caribby-Islands (London, 1666), p. 75 ("The Anolis are very common in all the Plantations: they are about the bigness and length of the Lizzards seen in France …"). Though it occurs but rarely, the singular is anolis in European vernaculars and Latin generally until 1750, when anoli appears in the Manuel lexique, ou Dictionnaire portatif des mots françois attributed to the Abbé Prévost. The English form anole does not seem to be attested before the nineteenth century. Island Carib anáoli ("ce lezart icy est gros comme un gros baston & long d'une coudée" - "this lizard is thick as a thick stick and a cubit in length") is from Raymond Breton's 1665 Dictionnaire caraïbe-français, a lexicon of Lesser Antillean Arawak.

First Known Use

1745, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing anole

• Carolina anole
• green anole

Kids Definition

anole

noun

ano·​le ə-ˈnō-lē 

: any of various chiefly tropical lizards that are able to change color and in the males have a usually brightly colored flap of skin on the throat