cryptidn.
/ˈkrɪptɪd/, U.S. /ˈkrɪptəd/ An animal whose existence or survival to the present day is disputed or unsubstantiated; any animal of interest to a cryptozoologist.
ΚΠ
1983 J. E. Wall in ISC Newslet. (Internat. Soc. Cryptozool.) Summer 10/3 It was suggested that new terms be coined to replace sensational and often misleading terms like ‘monster’. My suggestion is ‘cryptid’, meaning a living thing having the quality of being hidden or unknown.
1987 Cryptozoology 6 3 We know little or nothing about the population densities or reproductive rates of so-called ‘cryptids’.
1998 Fortean Times July 17/3 One supposed howler eyewitness is Fred Sprout, who..encountered a specimen of this cryptid one evening at dusk in mid-April 1998.
2003 New Scientist 26 July 49/1 There is a reasonable chance that at least some of the 1000-plus ‘cryptids’—creatures unknown to conventional science—described in this two-volume ‘field guide’ will eventually be shown to exist.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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