newt Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun small usually bright-colored semiaquatic salamanders of North America and Europe and northern Asia
triton.

OE. ewt, evete, AS. efete, with n prefixed, an ewt being understood as a newt. Cf. Eft.

(Zoöl.) Any one of several species of small aquatic salamanders. The common British species are the crested newt (Triton cristatus) and the smooth newt (Lophinus punctatus). In America, Diemictylus viridescens is one of the most abundant species.