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Any of a group of chiefly extinct reptiles that first emerged in the early Permian Period and are characterized by a skull with no openings in the temporal region. Modern turtles and tortoises may be surviving members of this group, or they may be descendants of diapsids that lost their skull openings.
[New LatinAnapsida, former subclass name : AN- + Greekhapsis, hapsid-, arch (in reference to their lack of temporal openings); see APSIS.]
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.