Polyphyodont
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any animal whose teeth are continuously replaced.
"Elephants and manatees are unusual among mammals because they are polyphyodonts. Most mammals are diphyodonts, replacing their teeth only once in their lives."
Example
More examples"Elephants and manatees are unusual among mammals because they are polyphyodonts. Most mammals are diphyodonts, replacing their teeth only once in their lives."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many, much”) + φύω (phúō, “produce”) + ὀδόντος (odóntos) (genitive of ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth”)).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.