animal

English

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• enPR: ăn'əməl, IPA: /ˈænəməl/, SAMPA: /"{n@m@l/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Picture dictionary

organism

mammal fish amphibian reptile bird insect

Etymology 1

From Middle English animal from Old French animal from Latin animal, a nominal use of an adjective from animale, neuter of animalis adj, 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").

Noun

animal (plural animals)

1. 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.

2. In non-scientific usage, any member of the kingdom Animalia other than a human being.
3. In non-scientific usage, any land-living vertebrate (i.e. not birds, fishes, insects etc)
4. (figuratively) A person who behaves wildly; a bestial, brutal, brutish, cruel, or inhuman person.

   My students are animals.

5. (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

Related terms

• anima
• animus
• animate
• Animalia

Translations

organism

Acholi: lee Afrikaans: dier Aleut: algax Amuzgo: kió' Arabic: حيوان (ar) (Hayawaan) m. Aragonese: animal m. Armenian: կենդանի (hy) (kendani) Asturian: animal Azeri: heyvan (az) Bambara: bagan Bashkir: хайуан (xaywan) Basque: animalia (eu) Bavarian: Viech Belarusian: жывёла (be) (žyvjóla) f., звер (be) (zver) m. Bengali: জানোয়ার (bn) (janoẇar) Borôro: barögö Bosnian: životinja (bs) f. Breton: loen m., loened, aneval m., anevaled Bulgarian: животно (bg) (živótno) n. Burmese: တိရစ္ဆာန် (my) (tăreikhsan) Catalan: animal (ca) m. Cherokee: ᎦᎾᏝᎢ (ganatlai) Chinese: Mandarin: 動物 (zh), 动物 (zh) (dòngwù) Min Nan: 動物, 动物 (tōng-bu̍t) Chukchi: gennik, gernik Chuvash: чĕрчун (çĕrçun) Croatian: živòtinja (hr) f. Czech: živočich (cs) m., zvíře (cs) n. Danish: dyr (da) Dutch: dier (nl) n., beest (nl) n. Esperanto: (includes humans) animalo (eo) Estonian: loom (et) Finnish: eläin (fi) French: animal (fr) m., bête (fr) f. Georgian: ცხოველი (ka) (c'xoveli) German: Tier (de) n. Gothic: 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍃 (dius) n. Greek: Ancient: ζῷον (zōion) n. Modern: ζώο (el) (zóo) n. Greenlandic: uumasoq (kl) Haitian Creole: animal, zannimo Hebrew: בעל חיים (he) (ba`al khayim) m. Hindi: हैवान (hi) (haivān) m., पशु (hi) (paśu), जानवर (hi) (jānvar) m. Hungarian: állat (hu) Icelandic: dýr (is) n. Ido: animalo Indonesian: hewan (id), binatang (id) Interlingua: animal, bestia Inuktitut: ᐆᒻᒪᔪᖅ (uummajuq), ᓂᕐᔪᑦ (nirjut) Inupiak: nirrun, aŋusalluq m., aġnasalluq f. Irish: Old: anmandae m. Modern: ainmhí (ga) m. Italian: animale (it) m., bestia (it) f. Itelmen: girnik, tuva Japanese: 動物 (ja) (どうぶつ, dōbutsu) Kalmyk: адусн (adusn) Kannada: prani Karachay-Balkar: хайуан (xaywan) Karelian: elätti, žiivatta Kazakh: жануар (kk) (janwar), хайуан (kk) (xaywan), айуан (kk) (aywan) Khakas: аң (añ) Korean: 동물 (ko) (dongmul) (動物 (ko)) Kumyk: гьайван (haywan) Kurdish: Kurmanji: ajal, candar, heywan, lawir Sorani: حه‌یوان (ku) (HaiwAn), ئاژه‌ڵ (ku) (AjaL)

Kyrgyz: айбан (ky) (ayban), жаныбар (ky) (canıbar) Lao: ສັດ (lo) (sat) Latin: animal (la) n., bestia (la) f. Latvian: dzīvnieks (lv) Lithuanian: gyvūnas (lt) m. Low Saxon: beest n. Malay: binatang (ms), haiwan (ms) Malayalam: മൃഗം (mrugam) Marathi: जनावर Mongolian: амьтан (mn) (am'tan) Nahuatl: yolkatl Navajo: naaldeehii Nepali: जनावर (janaawer) Norwegian: dyr (no) Novial: animale Occitan: animal Old Church Slavonic: животъ (životъ) m., звѣрь (zvěrь) m. Old English: dēor (ang) n. Old High German: tior n. Old Norse: dýr n. Pali: jīvī Persian: جانور (fa) (jânvar), حیوان (fa) (heyvân) Polish: zwierzę (pl) n. Portuguese: animal (pt) m., besta (pt) f. Punjabi: ਹੈਵਾਨ (haivāna) Rohingya: focú, januar Romani: hǝyvǝ́y (var: ḳayvayá) Romanian: animal (ro) n., fiară (ro) f., animale n. pl. Romansch: animal (rm) m., biestg (rm) Russian: животное (ru) (živótnoje) n., зверь (ru) (zver’) m., тварь (ru) (tvar') f., скотина (ru) (skotína) f. Sanskrit: पशु (paśu) n., मृग (mṛga) m. Scots: ainimal Scottish Gaelic: beathach m., ainmhidh m. Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: животиња (sh) f., звер (sh) f., скот (sh) m. Roman: životinja (sh) f., zver (sh) f., skot (sh) m. Sicilian: armali Sinhalese: සත්‍තු (si) (sattu) Slovak: živočích (sk) m., zviera (sk) n. Slovene: žival (sl) f., zver (sl) f. Southern Altai: амыт (amıt) Spanish: animal (es) m., bestia (es) f. Sumerian: 𒁕𒁕𒀯 (DADAMUL) Swahili: mnyama, wanyama pl (noun 1/2) Swedish: djur (sv) n. Tajik: ҳайвон (tg) (hayvon), ҷонвар (tg) (jonvar) Tamil: விலங்கு (ta) Tatar: xaywan (tt) Telugu: జంతువు (te) Thai: สัตว์ (th) (sàt) Turkish: hayvan (tr) Turkmen: haýwan (tk) Tuvan: амытан (amıtan) Ukrainian: тваринa (uk) (tvarýna) f., звір (uk) (zvir) m. Urdu: حیوان (ur) (haivān) m., جانور (ur) (jānvar) m. Uyghur: ھايۋان (ug) Uzbek: hayvon (uz) Veps: živat Vietnamese: thú vật (vi) (動物 (vi)) Volapük: nim Võro: elläi Welsh: anifail (cy) m.; mil (cy) m. West Frisian: dier n., bist (fy) n. Yakut: харамай (xaramay), кыыл (kııl) Yup'ik: ungungssit

organism other than man

Anglo-Norman: beste f. Arabic: حيوان (ar) (ħayawān) m. Armenian: կենդանի (hy) (kendani) Basque: animalia (eu) Burmese: အကောင် (my) (əkaʊ̀n) Catalan: animal (ca) m., bèstia (ca) f. Croatian: živòtinja (hr) f. Esperanto: besto (eo) Finnish: eläin (fi), elukka (fi) French: bête (fr) f., animal (fr) m. Greek: ζώο (el) (zóo) n., κτήνος (el) (ktínos) n., θηρίο (el) (thirío) n. Greenlandic: uumasoq (kl) Haitian Creole: bèt, animal, zannimo Hebrew: בעל חיים (he) (ba`al khayim) m.

Icelandic: dýr (is) n. Italian: animale (it) m., bestia (it) f. Kurdish: Sorani: حه‌یوان (ku) (HaiwAn), ئاژه‌ڵ (ku) (AjaL) Malay: binatang (ms) Middle French: beste Navajo: naaldlooshii Old French: beste Portuguese: animal (pt) m. Romanian: animal (ro) n., jivină (ro) f. Russian: животное (ru) (živótnoje) n., зверь (ru) (zver’) m. Scots: ainimal Swahili: mnyama (sw) Yucatec Maya: ba’alche’

person who behaves wildly

Basque: animalia (eu) Bosnian: zvijer (bs) f., hajvan (bs) m. Breton: aneval m., anevaled pl. Bulgarian: хайванин (bg) (haivanin) m. Catalan: bèstia (ca) f., animal (ca) m. Chinese: 野獸, 野兽 (yěshòu) Croatian: živòtinja (hr) f., zvijȇr (hr) f. Czech: zvíře (cs) n. Dutch: beest (nl) n. Finnish: eläin (fi), elukka (fi) French: bête (fr) f. German: Bestie (de) f., Unmensch (de) m., Monster (de) n., Scheusal (de) n. Greek: ζώο (el) (zóo) n., κτήνος (el) (ktínos) n., θηρίο (el) (thirío) n. Hebrew: חיה (he) (khaya) f. Icelandic: dýr (is) n., óargadýr (is) n.

Italian: animale (it) m., bestia (it) f. Kurdish: Sorani: حه‌یوان (ku) (HaiwAn) Lithuanian: žvėris m., gyvulys m. Norwegian: dyr (no) n. Persian: حیوان (fa) (heyvân) Portuguese: animal (pt) m. Romanian: fiară (ro) f. Russian: животное (ru) (živótnoje) n., зверь (ru) (zver’) m., скотина (ru) (skotína) f. Serbian: Cyrillic: звер m., хајван m. Roman: zver m., hajvan m. Slovak: zviera (sk) n. Swahili: mnyama (sw) Swedish: best (sv) c.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Inuktitut: ᐆᒻᒪᔪᖅ (uummajuq), ᓂᕐᔪᑦ (nirjut) Inupiak: nirrun, aŋusalluq m., aġnasalluq f.

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)

1. Of or relating to animals.

   animal instincts

2. Raw, base, unhindered by social codes.

   animal passions

3. Pertaining to the spirit or soul; relating to sensation or innervation.
   • 2003, To explain what activated the flesh, ‘animal spirits’ were posited, superfine fluids which shuttled between the mind and the vitals, conveying messages and motion. — Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason (Penguin 2004, p. 47)
4. (slang, Ireland) Excellent.

Synonyms

• (of animals): beastly, bestial
• (unhindered by social codes): animalistic, beastly, bestial, untamed, wild

Translations

of animals

Breton: loenel Bulgarian: животински (životinski) m. & pl., необуздан (neobuzdan) m. Catalan: animal (ca) m. and f. Croatian: animalan (hr), životinjski (hr) Czech: zvířecí (cs) m., f., and n. Danish: dyrisk (da) Dutch: dierlijk (nl), dierlijke (nl) Finnish: eläin- (in compounds) French: animal (fr) m., animale (fr) f. German: tierisch (de) Greek: ζωώδης (el) (zoóðis) Hebrew: חייתי (he) (ḥayati) m. Hungarian: állati (hu) Icelandic: dýrslegur (is) m., dýrsleg (is) f., dýrslegt (is) n. Interlingua: animal

Italian: animale (it) Kurdish: حه‌یوانی Latin: animalis (la) m. and f., animale (la) n. Norwegian: animalisk (no), dyrisk (no) Persian: حیوانی (heyvâni) Polish: zwierzęcy (pl) m., zwierzęca (pl) f., zwierzęce (pl) n. Portuguese: animal (pt) m. and f. Romanian: animal (ro), animalice (ro) Russian: звериный (ru) (zverínyj) m. Slovak: zvierací m. Slovene: živálski (sl) Spanish: animal (es) Swahili: kinyama (sw), mifugo (sw) Swedish: djurisk (sv)

unhindered by social codes

Bulgarian: животински (bg) (životinski) n. pl. Catalan: animal (ca) m. and f. Croatian: animalan (hr), životinjski (hr) Finnish: eläimellinen (fi) Greek: άγριος (el) (agrios) Hebrew: פרוע (he) (parua) m.

Icelandic: dýrslegur (is) m., dýrsleg (is) f., dýrslegt (is) n. Italian: animale (it) Portuguese: animal (pt) Romanian: sălbatic (ro) Swahili: kinyama (sw), mifugo (sw)

of soul

Hungarian: lelki (hu) Icelandic: dýrslegur (is) m., dýrsleg (is) f., dýrslegt (is) n.

Italian: animale (it)

Derived terms

• animalistic
• animal magnetism
• manimal

See also

• Wiktionary appendix of terms relating to animals

Anagrams

• Almain
• aminal
• lamina
• maalin
• Malian
• manila, Manila

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Asturian

Noun

animal m. (plural animales)

1. animal

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɫ

Noun

animal m. (plural animals)

1. animal

Adjective

animal m. and f. (plural animals)

1. animal

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin animal, animalis.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: /a.ni.mal/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophones: animale, animales

Noun

animal m. (plural animaux)

1. animal

Synonyms

• bête
• bestiole

Derived terms

• animal de compagnie
• animalerie

Adjective

animal m. (f. animale, m. plural animaux, f. plural animales)

1. animal

Synonyms

• bestial

Antonyms

• végétal

Anagrams

• lamina

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Galician

Noun

animal m. (plural animais)

1. animal

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Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French animal, from Latin animal.

Noun

animal

1. animal

Synonyms

• zannimo

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Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA: /a.niˈmal/

Noun

animal (plural animales)

1. animal

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Latin

Etymology

From anima (“breath, life”)

Noun

animal (genitive animālis); n, third declension

1. animal
2. living creature

Inflection

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	animal	animālia
genitive	animālis	animālium
dative	animālī	animālibus
accusative	animal	animālia
ablative	animālī	animālibus
vocative	animal	animālia

Synonyms

• animalis, bestia

Related terms

• anima
• animalis
• animare
• animus

Descendants

English: animal French: animal, aumaille Friulian: animâl, nemâl Italian: animale Portuguese: animal, alimanha, alimária

Romanian: animal, nămaie Romansch: animal Sicilian: armali, armalu Spanish: alimaña, almaje, animal

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Middle French

Noun

animal m. (plural animaux or animaulx)

1. animal

Synonyms

• beste

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin animal, animalis.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɐ.ni.ˈmaʊ/

Noun

animal m. (plural animais)

1. animal

Adjective

animal m. and f. (plural animais; comparable)

1. Or or relating to animals; animal.
2. (slang) cool; nice

Inflection

  Inflection of the Portuguese adjective animal

• Adjectives with this inflection include: abdominal, medieval, normal.

	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
positive	animal		animais
comparative	mais animal		mais animais
superlative	o mais animal animalíssimo	a mais animal animalíssima	os mais animais animalíssimos	as mais animais animalíssimas

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Romanian

Etymology

From Latin animalis through French animal.

Adjective

animal ^{4 nom/acc forms}

1. animal, animalistic
2. brutal

Declension

declension of animal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	animal		animală	animali	animale
	definite	animalul		animala	animalii	animalele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	animal		animale	animali	animale
	definite	animalului		animalei	animalilor	animalelor

Adverb

animal

1. brutally

Noun

animal n. (plural animale)

1. animal

Declension

declension of animal

	singular		plural
gender n.	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	un animal	animalul	niște animale	animalele
genitive/dative	unui animal	animalului	unor animale	animalelor

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Romansch

Etymology

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

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin animal, animalis.

Noun

animal m. (plural animales)

1. animal