Al'li-gā'tor, n.

n. [Fr. alligator, It. alligatore, corrupted from the Sp. el lagarto, Pg. o lagarto, the lizard, Sp. el lagarto de Indias, the cayman or American crocodile, from Lat. lacertus, equiv. to lacerta, lizard.] (Zoöl.) A large carnivorous amphibious reptile of the Saurian family, peculiar to America.

“The name was first given to this animal by the English colonists of the southern portion of what are now the United States, but has been gradually extended to all the varieties of the family, called caymans, crocodiles, jacarés, &c., by the Spaniards, Portuguese, and Indians of the southern continent. The alligator was formerly believed to be identical with the crocodile of the old world; but there have subsequently been found to exist distinctions which are, however, merely specific, and not generic, differences.” See Am. Cyc.

Crocodilus lucius.