animal

animal

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of animal in English

English Online Dictionary. What means animal‎? What does animal mean?

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈænɪməl/, (Indic) /əˈnɪməl/
  • Hyphenation: an‧i‧mal

Etymology 1

From Middle English animal, from Old French animal, from Latin animal, a nominal use of the adjective form animāle, neuter of animālis, from anima (“breath, spirit”). Displaced native Middle English deor, der (“animal”) (whence modern English deer; from Old English dēor (“animal”)), Middle English reother (“animal, neat”) (whence modern English rother; from Old English hrīþer, hrȳþer (“neat, ox”)).

Noun

animal (plural animals)

  2. (sciences) Any member of the kingdom Animalia of multicellular organisms that are usually mobile, whose cells are not encased in a rigid cell wall (distinguishing them from plants and fungi) and which derive energy solely from the consumption of other organisms (further distinguishing them from plants).
    Synonym: creature
    Hyponyms: human, person
  4. (loosely) Any member of the kingdom Animalia other than a human.
    Synonym: beast
    Coordinate terms: human, person
  5. (loosely) A higher animal; an animal related to humans.
    2. (colloquial) A tetrapod; a land-dwelling nonhuman vertebrate.
    3. A warm-blooded animal; a mammal or bird.
    4. A non-human mammal.
  7. (figuratively) A person who behaves wildly; a bestial, brutal, brutish, cruel, or inhuman person.
    Synonyms: brute, monster, savage
  9. (informal) A person of a particular type specified by an adjective.
  11. (informal) Matter, thing.
Hyponyms
  • See also Thesaurus:animal
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English animal, from Latin animālis, from either anima (“breath, spirit”) or animus. Originally distinct from the noun, it became associated with attributive use of the noun and is now indistinguishable from it.

Adjective

animal (not comparable)

  1. Of or relating to animals.
    Synonyms: beastly, bestial
    Coordinate term: vegetal
  2. Raw, base, unhindered by social codes.
    Synonyms: animalistic, beastly, bestial, untamed, wild
  3. Pertaining to the spirit or soul; relating to sensation or innervation.
  4. (slang, Ireland) Excellent.
Derived terms
Translations

See also

  • Wiktionary appendix of terms relating to animals

Further reading

  • “animal”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
  • animal in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
  • William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “animal”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
  • animal in Britannica Dictionary
  • animal in Ozdic collocation dictionary
  • animal in WordReference English Collocations

Anagrams

  • maalin, Almain, lamian, aminal, Manila, lamina, al-Amin, Milana, Alamin, almain, Malian, manila

Asturian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin animal.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /aniˈmal/ [a.niˈmal]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: a‧ni‧mal

Adjective

animal (epicene, plural animales)

  1. animal

Noun

animal m (plural animales)

  1. animal

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin animal.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (Central, Balearic) [ə.niˈmal]
  • IPA(key): (Valencia) [a.niˈmal]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Adjective

animal m or f (masculine and feminine plural animals)

  1. animal

Noun

animal m (plural animals)

  1. animal

Derived terms

  • animalada
  • animalitzar (“to animalize”)

Further reading

  • “animal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
  • “animal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
  • “animal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
  • “animal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish animal, from Latin animal, a nominal use of an adjective from animale, neuter of animālis, from anima (“breath, spirit”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʔaniˈmal/ [ʔɐ.n̪ɪˈmal̪]
  • Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Noun

animál

  1. animal
  2. (derogatory) rascal
    Synonym: banyaga
  3. (sometimes humurous) a crazy person

Adjective

animál

  1. (sometimes humorous) crazy
  2. contemptible, deserving contempt
  3. ruthless; without pity or compassion; cruel, pitiless

Interjection

animál

  1. (vulgar) used as an expression of disgust, anger, etc.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin animal. Compare the archaic inherited doublet aumaille and its variant armaille, both from the Latin neuter plural animālia.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /a.ni.mal/
  • Homophones: animale, animales

Noun

animal m (plural animaux)

  1. animal
    Synonyms: bête, bestiole

Derived terms

Adjective

animal (feminine animale, masculine plural animaux, feminine plural animales)

  1. animal
    Synonym: bestial
    Antonym: végétal

Further reading

  • “animal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

  • lamina

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin animal.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /aniˈmal/ [a.nĩˈmɑɫ]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Adjective

animal m or f (plural animais)

  1. animal

Noun

animal m (plural animais)

  1. animal

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French animal, from Latin animal.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /a.ni.mal/

Noun

animal

  1. animal
    Synonym: zannimo

Ilocano

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish animal.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʔaniˈmal/ [ʔɐ.niˈmal]
  • Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Noun

animál

  1. animal
    Synonym: ayup

Interlingua

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /a.niˈmal/

Noun

animal (plural animales)

  1. animal

Kabuverdianu

Etymology

From Portuguese animal.

Noun

animal

  1. beast
  2. animal

Kapampangan

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish animal.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ənɪˈmal/ [ə.nɪˈmäl]
  • Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Noun

animal

  1. animal
    Synonym: ayup

Latin

Etymology

Substantivation of apocopated animāle, nominative neuter singular of animālis (“living”). See -al and compare Russian живо́тное (živótnoje, “animal”).

Pronunciation

  • (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈa.nɪ.maɫ]
  • (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈaː.ni.mal]

Noun

animal n (genitive animālis); third declension

  1. animal
  2. living creature

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, pure i-stem).

Synonyms

  • bestia

Related terms

Descendants

References

  • “animal”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “animal”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • "animal", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • “animal”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎[3], London: Macmillan and Co.

Middle English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /aniˈmaːl/, /aˈnimal/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French animal, from Latin animal.

Alternative forms

  • animale

Noun

animal (plural animales)

  1. An animal (considered to include humans)
Descendants
  • English: animal (see there for further descendants)
  • Scots: ainimal
References
  • “animāl, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 16 January 2019.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin animālis.

Alternative forms

  • animale, animall, anymal, anymall

Adjective

animal

  1. Related to the soul or spirit of a living being (i.e. sentience or sapience)
Descendants
  • English: animal
References
  • “animāl, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 16 January 2019.

Middle French

Noun

animal m (plural animaux or animaulx)

  1. animal
    Synonym: beste

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Portuguese animal and Spanish animal.

Noun

animal

  1. beast
  2. animal

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin animal. Doublet of alimária.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
  • Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Adjective

animal m or f (plural animais, comparable, comparative mais animal, superlative o mais animal or animalíssimo)

  1. (biology) animal (relating to animals)
  2. (derogatory, of a person) brute (senseless, unreasoning)
    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:animal.
  3. (Brazil, colloquial) cool; awesome

Noun

animal m (plural animais)

  1. (biology) animal (any member of the kingdom Animalia)
  2. (non-scientific usage) animal (an animal other than a human, especially a vertebrate)
    • 2007, Daniela Ikawa, Valor humano intrínseco e redistribuição social in 2007, Flávia Piovesan, Daniela Ikawa, Direitos Humanos: Fundamento, Proteção e Implementação, volume 2, Juruá Editora, page 44:
    Synonyms: besta, bicho
  3. (colloquial) twat; idiot; moron
    Synonyms: idiota, retardado, burro, imbecil, débil mental, besta
  4. (colloquial) beast (a cruel person)
    Synonym: monstro

Derived terms

Romanian

Alternative forms

  • анимал (animal) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Borrowed from French animal, from Latin animal. Doublet of nămaie.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /a.niˈmal/
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Adjective

animal m or n (feminine singular animală, masculine plural animali, feminine and neuter plural animale)

  1. animal, animalistic
  2. brutal

Declension

Adverb

animal

  1. brutally

Noun

animal n (plural animale)

  1. animal

Declension

Romansch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin animal.

Noun

animal m (plural animals)

  1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Vallader) animal

Synonyms

  • (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran) biestg
  • (Rumantsch Grischun, Sutsilvan) bestga
  • (Sursilvan) tier, bestia
  • (Puter, Vallader) bes-cha

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin animal. See also alimaña, an inherited doublet.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /aniˈmal/ [a.niˈmal]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: a‧ni‧mal

Adjective

animal m or f (masculine and feminine plural animales)

  1. animal

Noun

animal m (plural animales)

  1. animal

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

  • “animal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Anagrams

  • lámina
  • lamina

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish animal, from Latin animal.

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Tagalog) IPA(key): /ʔaniˈmal/ [ʔɐ.n̪ɪˈmal]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: a‧ni‧mal

Noun

animál (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜈᜒᜋᜎ᜔)

  1. beast; brute; creature
    Synonyms: halimaw, hayop
  2. (derogatory) brutish person; inhuman person
    Synonyms: hayop, bruto, bestiya

Derived terms

Anagrams

  • alamin, Manila

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English animal.

Noun

animal

  1. animal (any member of the kingdom Animalia that is not a human)
    Synonym: abus

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.