Charizard

The English Pokémon name is a combination of the words char and lizard.

As already covered in Charizard's first two forms, the word char means to burn or reduce to charcoal. And I have no doubt the imposing Charizard has a history of leaving charred destruction in their wake.

Lizard has its origins in the Latin word lacerta and refers to the species name given to numerous scaly reptiles. These reptiles are typified by their elongated bodies, tapering take and two pairs of legs (usually held outward from the body but in Charizard's case this is where the lizard resemblance ends).

The Japanese is instead an evolution of the Japanese for Charmeleon. Whereas Charmeleon was リザード (rizādo), Charizard is written in Katakana as リザードン (rizādon).

We have already covered how リザード (rizādo) is the Katakana for pronouncing the English word lizard but why the inclusion of the letter n on the end? It is, in my opinion, meant to reference the suffix -odon that is often used with dinosaur names. The origin of the word is Ancient Greek for tooth and can be seen on some dinosaur names such as megalodon ("big tooth") or iguanadon ("iguana tooth"). And who wouldn't be afraid of the vicious teeth Charizard has on display?