creature
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Existing since Middle English in the original sense of “a created thing”, borrowed via Old French, from Late Latin creatura, from creare.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK) enPR: krē'chə, IPA: /ˈkɹiːt͡ʃə/, X-SAMPA: /"kr\i:tS@/
- (US) enPR: krē'chər, IPA: /ˈkɹiːt͡ʃəɹ/, X-SAMPA: /"kr\`i:tS@r\/
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Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -iːtʃə(ɹ)
Noun[edit]
creature (plural creatures)
- (now rare) A created thing, whether animate or inanimate; a creation.
- 1633, John Donne, "Sapho to Philænis":
- Thoughts, my mindes creatures, often are with thee, / But I, their maker, want their libertie.
- 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, I.10:
- the natural truth of God is an artificial erection of Man, and the Creator himself but a subtile invention of the Creature.
- 1633, John Donne, "Sapho to Philænis":
- A living being; an animal or human.
- A being subservient to or dependent upon another.
- 1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry for Freedom, Oxford 2003, p. 240:
- they, too, despite the appearance of being creatures rather than creators of the Union, could assert the prior sovereignty of their states, for each had formed a state constitution […] before petitioning Congress for admission to the Union.
- 1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry for Freedom, Oxford 2003, p. 240:
Usage notes[edit]
- For an explanation of the specialised use of the alternative spelling creäture, see its entry’s usage notes.
- Adjectives often applied to "creature": evil, living, little, mythical, poor, strange, beautiful, wild, rational, marine, social, legendary, good, mysterious, curious, magical, dangerous, mythological, bizarre, monstrous, unhappy, huge, lowly, ugly, happy, unique, odd, weird, demonic, divine, imaginary, hideous, fabulous, nocturnal, angelic, political.
Hyponyms[edit]
- See also Wikisaurus:creature
Related terms[edit]
Related terms
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
A creature
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References[edit]
- ^ The Concise Oxford English Dictionary [Eleventh Edition]
- creature in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- creature in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
Italian[edit]
Noun[edit]
creature f
- Plural form of creatura
Latin[edit]
Participle[edit]
creātūre
- vocative masculine singular of creātūrus
Old French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
creature f (oblique plural creatures, nominative singular creature, nominative plural creatures)
