meat-eating dinosaur of the Jurassic period, 1884, from cerato- "horn" + -saurus. So called for the small horn on its nose.
Entries linking to ceratosaurus
cerato-
word-forming element meaning "horn, horn-like part," from Latinized form of Greek keras (genitive keratos) "horn of an animal; horn as a substance," from PIE root *ker- (1) "horn, head."
-saurus
element used in forming dinosaur names, from Latinized form of Greek sauros "lizard," a word of unknown origin; possibly related to saulos "twisting, wavering."