SALAMANDER

noun Etymology: Middle English salamandre, from Anglo-French, from Latin salamandra, from Greek Date: 14th century a mythical animal having the power to endure fire without harm, an elemental being in the theory of Paracelsus inhabiting fire, any of numerous amphibians (order Caudata) superficially resembling lizards but scaleless and covered with a soft moist skin and breathing by gills in the larval stage, an article used in connection with fire: as, a cooking utensil for browning a food (as pastry or pudding), a portable stove, a cooking device with an overhead heat source like a broiler, salamandrine adjective