ˌ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˈdiktə̇s noun
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from cyn- + -dictis (from Greek diktys, an unknown Libyan animal mentioned by Herodotus)
: a genus of extinct carnivores from the Eocene and Oligocene of Europe that were long-bodied short-legged creatures resembling weasels with retractile claws and presumably ancestral to dogs, foxes, and related forms