Is there a word that combines aerial, aquatic, and terrestrial?

Question

I know that something suitable to both land and water is called amphibious but I am looking for a word that describes something that is suitable to land, air, and water. I don't believe such an animal exists but I am still curious as to whether there is a word for it.

Some seabirds might be regarded as having this quality - they fly, can walk and can dive/swim. See gannets and cormorants. — marcellothearcane, Apr 10 '17 at 11:35
Also the loon -- not very agile on land, but an expert diver and a good flyer. — user1359, Apr 10 '17 at 13:12
I believe that the best-known animals that inhabit the land, sea, or air are the various species of dragon, but I think not all biomes at once for any one species. — Ann, Apr 11 '17 at 19:21

score 44 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 10 '17 at 10:21

44

See triphibian, defined by American heritage dictionary as

Designed to operate on land, on water, or in air.

answered Apr 10 '17 at 10:21

vickyace

14,859

13

Note that in "amphibious", the first part comes from the greek "amphí", meaning "on both sides", whereas "triphi" does not have a greek provenance, and is an "artificial" word, made up by replacing "am" with "tri". – Alex Stragies Apr 10 '17 at 14:41
I never realised that Action Man was triphibian! – TripeHound Apr 10 '17 at 15:04
I get the feeling Triathlon and Triathlete are related to this prefix wise, though you have to replace Air with Cycling, but the principle is the same. – Ryan Apr 10 '17 at 19:13
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@AlexStragies Sure, but tribious sounds like it would have to do with a particularly difficult-to-dislodge invasive species found on starships... – KRyan Apr 10 '17 at 23:34
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@Ryan: I guess you could say that, but not because they have to do with air, land and water. The Greek-originated prefix "tri-" simply stands for "three". Triathlon is called so because this sport consists of three distinct disciplines (cf. biathlon, pentathlon, decathlon). The word "triphibian" may be meant to describe specific environments something or someone can operate in but its "tri-" prefix still stands for just "three". – Andriy M Apr 11 '17 at 14:58
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Great question and great answer too. Last night I was wondering whether multimedia or SUV would fit the bill. – hlecuanda Apr 11 '17 at 15:00

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 10 '21 at 23:20

1

If a new word is needed, why not panbious?

Exchanging the greek

amphi - meaning 'both; on two sides'

for the greek

pan - meaning 'all; of everything'.

answered Apr 10 '21 at 23:20

Dan

17,948

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 10 '21 at 04:48

0

triphibious is okay but triphibious can also applies to 3 types of terrestrial. so the best word is AEROAMPHIBIOUS.

answered Apr 10 '21 at 04:48

user420094

1

1

Does that appear in a any dictionary? – KillingTime Apr 10 '21 at 05:08

score -1 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 21 '20 at 05:50

-1

So wouldn't ollaphibios be a better word olla means all. So the word "all" in my head would refer to all of our main categories of the earth's makeup land, water, sky. Not sure if that would be the correct spelling I just looked up the Greek translation for "all".

answered Feb 21 '20 at 05:50

Lauren

1

This would be improved with a dictionary reference or two. – KillingTime Feb 21 '20 at 06:00
3

The poster is not looking for a word that can be coined for the occasion, they are curious as to if "there is a word " – Greybeard Feb 21 '20 at 10:16

Sarista Celestial · Answer 5 · 2020-03-24T15:06:54.253

-1

Omniphibios would be better, I think. Or spanphibios could work. Omni - all; of all things; in all ways or places. Span - the full extent of something from end to end.

Why not invent a word for your purposes? That's what Shakespeare did.

edited Mar 24 '20 at 15:06

answered Mar 23 '20 at 14:12

Sarista Celestial

9

1

This would be improved with an authoritative definition and reference for the given word. – KillingTime Mar 23 '20 at 14:20

Is there a word that combines aerial, aquatic, and terrestrial?

5 Answers5