Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Animal
1.
An organized living being endowed with sensation and the power of voluntary motion, and also characterized by taking its food into an internal cavity or stomach for digestion; by giving carbonic acid to the air and taking oxygen in the process of respiration; and by increasing in motive power or active aggressive force with progress to maturity.
2.
One of the lower animals; a brute or beast, as distinguished from man;
as, men and
. animals
An′i-mal
,Adj.
[Cf. F.
animal
.] 1.
Of or relating to animals;
as,
. animal
functions2.
Pertaining to the merely sentient part of a creature, as distinguished from the intellectual, rational, or spiritual part;
as, the
. animal
passions or appetites3.
Consisting of the flesh of animals;
For definitions, see these names in the Vocabulary.as,
. animal
foodWebster 1828 Edition
Animal
AN'IMAL
,Noun.
An organized body, endowed with life and the power of voluntary motion; a living, sensitive, locomotive body; as, man is an intelligent animal. Animals are essentially distinguished from plants by the property of sensation. The contractile property of some plants, as the mimosa, has the appearance of the effect of sensation, but it may be merely the effect of irritability.
The distinction here made between animals and vegetables, may not be philosophically accurate; for we cannot perhaps ascertain the precise limit between the two kinds of beings, but this is sufficiently correct for common practical purposes.
The history of animals is called zoology.
By way of contempt, a dull person is called a stupid animal.
Definition 2024
Animal
animal
animal
English
Noun
animal (plural animals)
- In scientific usage, a multicellular organism that is usually mobile, whose cells are not encased in a rigid cell wall (distinguishing it from plants and fungi) and which derives energy solely from the consumption of other organisms (distinguishing it from plants).
- A cat is an animal, not a plant. Humans are also animals, under the scientific definition, as we are not plants.
- In non-scientific usage, any member of the kingdom Animalia other than a human.
- In non-scientific usage, any land-living vertebrate (i.e. not birds, fishes, insects etc.).
- 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
- Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.
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- (figuratively) A person who behaves wildly; a bestial, brutal, brutish, cruel, or inhuman person.
- My students are animals.
- (informal) A person of a particular type.
- a political animal
Synonyms
- (organism): beast, creature
- (non-human organism): beast
- (person who behaves wildly): brute, monster, savage
Hyponyms
- See also Wikisaurus:animal
Related terms
Translations
organism
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organism other than man
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person who behaves wildly
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Etymology 2
From Latin animalis, 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)
- Of or relating to animals.
- animal instincts
- Raw, base, unhindered by social codes.
- animal passions
- Pertaining to the spirit or soul; relating to sensation or innervation.
- 2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason (Penguin 2004), page 47:
- To explain what activated the flesh, ‘animal spirits’ were posited, superfine fluids which shuttled between the mind and the vitals, conveying messages and motion.
- 2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason (Penguin 2004), page 47:
- (slang, Ireland) Excellent.
Synonyms
- (of animals): beastly, bestial
- (unhindered by social codes): animalistic, beastly, bestial, untamed, wild
Derived terms
Terms derived from animal
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Translations
of animals
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unhindered by social codes
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of soul
See also
- Wiktionary appendix of terms relating to animals
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -al
Noun
animal m (plural animals)
Adjective
animal m, f (masculine and feminine plural animals)
French
Etymology
Borrowing from Latin animal. Cf. the archaic inherited doublet aumaille.
Pronunciation
Noun
animal m (plural animaux)
Synonyms
Derived terms
Terms derived from animal
Adjective
animal m (feminine singular animale, masculine plural animaux, feminine plural animales)
Synonyms
Antonyms
Anagrams
Latin
Etymology
Neuter gender of animālis.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈa.ni.mal/, [ˈa.nɪ.maɫ]
Noun
animal n (genitive animālis); third declension
Inflection
Third declension neuter “pure” i-stem.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | animal | animālia |
| genitive | animālis | animālium |
| dative | animālī | animālibus |
| accusative | animal | animālia |
| ablative | animālī | animālibus |
| vocative | animal | animālia |
Synonyms
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, 1883–1887)
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “animal”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
- Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- animate and inanimate nature: animata (animalia) inanimaque (not inanimata)
- domestic animals: animalia quae nobiscum degunt (Plin. 8. 40)
- animate and inanimate nature: animata (animalia) inanimaque (not inanimata)
Portuguese
Etymology
Borrowing from Latin animal. See also alimária, an inherited doublet.
Pronunciation
Noun
animal m (plural animais)
Quotations
For usage examples of this term, see Citations:animal.
Adjective
animal m, f (plural animais, comparable)
Quotations
For usage examples of this term, see Citations:animal.
Inflection
Inflection of animal
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | masculine | feminine | |
| positive | animal | animal | animais | animais |
| comparative | mais animal | mais animal | mais animais | mais animais |
| superlative | o mais animal animalíssimo |
a mais animal animalíssima |
os mais animais animalíssimos |
as mais animais animalíssimas |
| augmentative | — | — | — | — |
| diminutive | — | — | — | — |
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowing from French animal, from Latin animal. Doublet of nămaie.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /a.niˈmal/
Adjective
animal m, n (feminine singular animală, masculine plural animali, feminine and neuter plural animale)
Declension
declension of animal
Adverb
animal
Noun
animal n (plural animale)
Declension
declension of animal
Romansch
Etymology
Noun
animal m (plural animals)
Synonyms
- (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran) biestg
- (Rumantsch Grischun, Sutsilvan) bestga
- (Sursilvan) tier, bestia
- (Puter, Vallader) bes-cha
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowing from Latin animal. See also alimaña, an inherited doublet.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -al
Noun
animal m (plural animales)
Adjective
animal m, f (plural animales)
Tok Pisin
Etymology
Noun
animal
- animal (members of Kingdom Animalia that are not humans)
- 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Genesis 1:25 (translation here):
- God i kamapim ol kain kain animal bilong ples na ol bikpela na liklik animal bilong bus. God i lukim olgeta dispela samting i gutpela, na em i amamas.
- 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Genesis 1:25 (translation here):
This entry has fewer than three known examples of actual usage, the minimum considered necessary for clear attestation, and may not be reliable. Tok Pisin is subject to a special exemption for languages with limited documentation. If you speak it, please consider editing this entry or adding citations. See also Help and the Community Portal.
Etymology
From Middle English animal, a borrowing from Old French animal, from Latin animal, a nominal use of an adjective from animale, neuter of animalis, from anima (“breath, spirit”). Displaced native Middle English deor, der (“animal”) (from Old English dēor (“animal”)), Middle English reother (“animal, neat”) (from Old English hrīþer, hrȳþer (“neat, ox”)).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈæ.nɪ.məl/
- enPR: ăn'ə-məl, IPA(key): /ˈæ.nə.məl/
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