creature

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

English

Alternative forms

• creäture (archaic, chiefly literary, philosophy)
• creatur
• creacher (pronunciation spelling)
• critter, craythur (doublets)

Etymology

From Middle English creature in the original sense of “a created thing”, borrowed via Old French creature, criature, from Latin creātūra, from creō. Displaced native Old English ġesċeaft. Doublet of craythur and critter.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: krē'chə, IPA^(key): /ˈkɹiːt͡ʃə/
• (General American) enPR: krē'chər, IPA^(key): /ˈkɹiːt͡ʃɚ/
• (archaic) enPR: krē.āʹtyo͝or, IPA^(key): /kɹiːˈeɪtjʊə/
• Rhymes: -iːtʃə(ɹ)

Noun

creature (plural creatures)

1. A living being, such as an animal, monster, or alien.
2. An unidentified, mysterious, and often monstrous animal or being.
3. (sometimes derogatory) A human.
4. (now uncommon, religion) A created thing, whether animate or inanimate; a creation.
5. A being subservient to or dependent upon another.

Usage notes

• For an explanation of the specialised use of the alternative spelling creäture, see its entry's usage notes.

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:creature

Derived terms

Related terms

Collocations

Translations

References

• “creature”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “creature”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• ecarteur

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kre.aˈtu.re/
• Rhymes: -ure
• Hyphenation: cre‧a‧tù‧re

Noun

creature f

1. plural of creatura

Latin

Participle

creātūre

1. vocative masculine singular of creātūrus

Middle Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin creātūra.

Noun

creature f

1. creature, being

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: creatuur

Further reading

• “creature”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “creature”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old French criature, creature, from Latin creātūra; equivalent to createn +‎ -ure.

Alternative forms

• creatur, creatour, creatoure, creater, creture, crature, cryature, criature

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /krɛːaːˈtiu̯r/, /krɛːaˈtiu̯r/, /krɛːaˈtuːr/
• (reduced second syllable) IPA^(key): /krɛːˈtiu̯r/, /ˈkrɛːətiu̯r/, /ˈkrɛːtur/
• (accented second syllable) IPA^(key): /krɛˈaːtiu̯r/, /ˈkraːtiu̯r/

Noun

creature (plural creatures)

1. Something that has been created; an entity or object.
2. A living being or creature; an animal or beast.
3. A human being (often as a term of self-abasement).
4. (rare) The whole world, the totality of existence.
5. (rare) The process of making or creation.

Descendants

• English: creature; critter; craytur
• Scots: creature, crayter

References

• “crēātūre, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-18.

Etymology 2

Noun

creature

1. Alternative form of creatour

Old French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin creātūra.

Noun

creature oblique singular, f (oblique plural creatures, nominative singular creature, nominative plural creatures)

1. creature; being; entity

Descendants

• Middle English: creature
• French: créature