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animal

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Animal and animâl
Languages (21)
English
Asturian • Catalan • Cebuano • French • Galician • Haitian Creole • Ilocano • Interlingua • Kabuverdianu • Kapampangan • Latin • Middle English • Middle French • Papiamentu • Portuguese • Romanian • Romansh • Spanish • Tagalog • Tok Pisin
Page categories

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈæn.ᵻ.məl/
    • Audio (US):(file)
  • (Indic) IPA(key): /ˈæ.nɪ.məl/, /ə.nɪ.məl/, [æː.nɪ.mɐl], [ɐ.nɪ.mɐl]
  • Rhymes: -ɪməl
  • Hyphenation: an‧i‧mal

Etymology 1

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *-mos
Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos
Proto-Italic *anamos
Latin animus
Latin anima
Proto-Italic *-ālis
Latin -ālis
Latin animālis
Latin animalder.
Old French animalbor.
Middle English animal
English animal

    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
      Humans, like other animals, need air to breathe and food to eat.
      • 1650, Thomas Browne, “Of the Cameleon”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 3rd book, page 133:
        It cannot be denied it [the chameleon] is (if not the moſt of any) a very abſtemious animall, and ſuch as by reaſon of its frigidity, paucity of bloud, and latitancy in the winter (about which time the obſervations are often made) will long ſubſist without a viſible ſuſtentation.
    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.
      When he's hungry my toddler opens his mouth like an animal instead of asking us to feed him.
      2. (colloquial) A tetrapod; a land-dwelling nonhuman vertebrate.
        • 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.
      3. A warm-blooded animal; a mammal or bird.
      4. A non-human mammal.
        I spent my summer studying the animals and birds of the two islands.
        • 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 54:
          Birds are as popular as animals in the toy kingdom, especially pigeons, owls and domestic hens.
        • 2025 August 21, Robert Ito, “The Makers of ‘BoJack Horseman’ Take Family Matters by the Reins”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 August 2025:
          “Long Story Short,” a new animated series from Raphael Bob-Waksberg with art by Lisa Hanawalt, trades the talking animals for kvetching humans.
    7. (figuratively) A person who behaves wildly; a bestial, brutal, brutish, cruel, or inhuman person.
      Synonyms: brute, monster, savage
      My students are animals.
      • 2019, “Bad Guy”, Finneas O'Connell, Billie Eilish O'Connell (lyrics), performed by Billie Eilish:
        Own me, I'll let you play the role
        I'll be your animal
      • 2024 July 14, Rachel Hall, quoting Jodie White, “‘I’ve never seen owt like it’: England fans in Benidorm in high spirits before Euro final”, in The Guardian‎[2], →ISSN:
        She speculated that things could deteriorate later: “I think they’re scared of the English, which is fair; we are animals.”
    9. (informal) A person of a particular type specified by an adjective.
      He's a political animal.
    11. (informal) Matter, thing.
      a whole different animal
      no such animal
    Hyponyms
    Derived terms
    Descendants
    • Bislama: anamol
    • Tok Pisin: animal
    • → Esperanto: animalo
    • → Ido: animalo
    • → Volapük: nim
    Translations
    See animal/translations § Noun.

    Etymology 2

    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-
    Proto-Indo-European *-mos
    Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos
    Proto-Italic *anamos
    Latin animus
    Latin anima
    Proto-Italic *-ālis
    Latin -ālis
    Latin animālisbor.
    Middle English animal
    English animal

      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
        animal instincts
        • 1783 June 3, William Cowper, “To the Rev. William Bull”, in Private Correspondence of William Cowper, Esq. with Several of His Most Intimate Friends. […], volume I, London: […] Henry Colburn, […], and Simpkin and Marshall, […], published 1824, page 266:
          The season has been most unfavourable to animal life; and I, who am merely animal, have suffered much by it.
        • 1809, William Martin, Outlines of an Attempt to Establish a Knowledge of Extraneous Fossils, on Scientific Principles. […], Macclesfield, Cheshire: […] J. Wilson. Sold by the Author, […]; J. White, […], and Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], page 141:
          […]—according to Sanssure, Abbé Fortis, Bruckenman, Jameson, Dr. Richardson, &c. &c. both animal and vegetal remains have been detected in Basalt and Wacke.
        • 1890, [Lena,] Lady Login, “Lucknow”, in Sir John Login and Duleep Singh, London: W. H. Allen & Co., […], page 78:
          The body was covered with soft hair, and though undoubtedly human, it was very animal in its instincts and ways.
        • 1918, W[ilhelm] Max Müller, “[Egyptian Mythology] Worship of Animals and Men”, in Louis Herbert Gray, George Foot Moore, editors, The Mythology of All Races […], volume XII (Egyptian; Indo-Chinese), Boston, Mass.: Marshall Jones Company, page 167:
          The unsatisfactory material at our command, however, renders it difficult to determine why we cannot prove a worship of a living incarnation for every deity who is represented on the monuments in a form either wholly or partially animal. We must wonder why, for example, the sacred hawk or hawks of Horus at Edfu (who never has human form) are scarcely mentioned.
        • 1913–1921, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter”, in England My England and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, published 24 October 1922, →OCLC, page 243:
          He looked down at the tangled wet hair, the wild, bare, animal shoulders.
        • 2012, Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis, New York, N.Y.: The Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 216:
          I thought: if pain is the thing shared by all living creatures, then I’m no longer human or animal or vegetal; I am unplugged from the tick of metabolism; I am mineral.
        • 2015 August, Joseph M. Luguya, “Part 1: The Demented Scholar”, in Humans: The Untold Story of Adam and Eve and their Descendants, volume one (The Thesis), Silver Spring, Md.: Original Books, →ISBN, page 46:
          In any case, the argument the inhabitants of these parts would have advanced as their strongest one against the so-called chastity belt would, of course, have been that living species, whether animal or vegetative, were made the way they were for an obvious reason.
      2. Raw, base, unhindered by social codes.
        Synonyms: animalistic, beastly, bestial, untamed, wild
        animal passions
        • 2016 August 26, Spencer Kornhaber, “Britney Spears Finds Grace in the Hook-Up on 'Glory'”, in The Atlantic‎[3], archived from the original on 29 September 2016:
          But the line also distills pop culture’s big commandment about sex to its animal essence: If you’re not screwing somebody, you’re nobody.
      3. Pertaining to the spirit or soul; relating to sensation or innervation.
        • 2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Penguin, published 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.
      4. (slang, Ireland) Excellent.
      Derived terms
      Translations

      See also

      Further reading

      Anagrams

      Asturian

      Asturian Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia ast

      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

      Further reading

      • Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “animal”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
      • “animal”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1ª edición, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, 2000, →ISBN

      Catalan

      Etymology

      Borrowed from Latin animal.

      Pronunciation

      Adjective

      animal m or f (masculine and feminine plural animals)

      1. animal

      Noun

      animal m (plural animals)

      1. animal

      Derived terms

      Further reading

      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

      Noun

      animal m (plural animaux)

      1. animal
        Synonyms: bête, bestiole

      Derived terms

      Descendants

      Adjective

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

      1. animal
        Synonym: bestial
        Antonym: végétal

      Further reading

      Anagrams

      Galician

      Galician Wikipedia has an article on:
      Wikipedia gl

      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

      Further reading

      Haitian Creole

      Etymology

      From French animal, from Latin animal.

      Pronunciation

      Noun

      animal

      1. animal
        Synonym: zannimo

      References

      • Targète, Jean; Urciolo, Raphael (1993), Haitian Creole-English Dictionary‎[4], Dunwoody Press, →ISBN, page 9

      Ilocano

      Etymology

      Borrowed from Spanish animal.

      Pronunciation

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

      Noun

      animál

      1. animal
        Synonym: ayup

      Interlingua

      Pronunciation

      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.

        Pronunciation

        Noun

        animal n (genitive animālis); third declension

        1. animal
        2. living creature

        Declension

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

        singular plural
        nominative animal animālia
        genitive animālis animālium
        dative animālī animālibus
        accusative animal animālia
        ablative animālī animālibus
        vocative animal animālia

        Synonyms

        Descendants

        Borrowings:

        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, 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[5], London: Macmillan and Co.
          • animate and inanimate nature: animata (animalia) inanimaque (not inanimata)
          • domestic animals: animalia quae nobiscum degunt (Plin. 8. 40)

        Middle English

        Pronunciation

        • IPA(key): /aniˈmaːl/, /aˈnimal/

        Etymology 1

          Borrowed from Old French animal, from Latin animal.

          Alternative forms

          Noun

          animal (plural animales)

          1. An animal (considered to include humans)
          Descendants
          • English: animal (see there for further descendants)
          • Scots: ainimal
          References

          Etymology 2

            Borrowed from Latin animālis.

            Alternative forms

            Adjective

            animal

            1. Related to the soul or spirit of a living being (i.e. sentience or sapience)
            Descendants
            References

            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

            FWOTD – 4 October 2020
            Portuguese Wikipedia has an article on:
            Wikipedia pt

            Etymology

            Learned borrowing from Latin animal. Doublet of alimária.

            Pronunciation

             

            Adjective

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

            1. (biology) animal (relating to animals)
              • 2000, Julio S. Inglez de Sousa et al., Enciclopédia agrícola brasileira: E-H, Editora da Universidade de São Paulo, page 225:
                Em anatomia animal o termo é de uso muito comum, […]
                The term is very commonly used in animal anatomy, […]
            2. (derogatory, of a person) brute (senseless, unreasoning)
            3. (Brazil, colloquial) cool; awesome
              • 2015, Juliana Rosenthal K., Save the Day, Buqui, page 52:
                É, tava animal mesmo — Bia mal consegue falar.
                Yeah, it really was wild — Bia can barely speak.

            Noun

            animal m (plural animais)

            1. (biology) animal (any member of the kingdom Animalia)
              • 2010, João José da Costa, Fábulas do jeito que só vovô sabia contar, Clube de Autores, page 38:
                Quando a flor do abacateiro recebe o pólen de outra flor de abacateiro trazido pelas abelhas, beija-flores, borboletas e outros animais, ela fica polinizada e começa a gerar um fruto, que é o abacate.
                (please add an English translation of this quotation)
              • 2020, Petrônio Braz, Léxico dos Gerais, Chiado Books, page 481:
                Primatas — Animais mamíferos, da ordem Primata, que compreende os macacos, antropóides e o homem.
                Primates — Mammalian animals, of the order Primata, which comprises monkeys/apes, anthropoids and man.
            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:
                Separar os dois grupos — humanos e animais requereria, dentro dos limites da teoria relativa à dor e ao sofrimento, […]
                Separating the two groups — humans and animals would require, within the limits of the theory relating to pain and suffering, […]
              Synonyms: besta, bicho
            3. (colloquial) twat; idiot; moron
              • 1979, Wilson Bacelar de Oliveira, Os meus fantasmas, Editora Comunicação, page 490:
                Escute aqui, seu animal, então você brigou com o companheiro?
                Listen up, you dumbass, so you fought with [your] mate?
              Synonyms: idiota, retardado, burro, imbecil, débil mental, besta
            4. (colloquial) beast (a cruel person)
              • 2007, Creso Balduíno, O verso do ser, Editora Revan, page 170:
                Josuel é um animal repulsivo, uma besta humana.
                Josuel is a repulsive beast, a human beast.
              Synonym: monstro

            Derived terms

            Further reading

            Romanian

            Alternative forms

            Etymology

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

            Pronunciation

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

            Adjective

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

            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

            singular plural
            indefinite definite indefinite definite
            nominative-accusative animal animalul animale animalele
            genitive-dative animal animalului animale animalelor
            vocative animalule animalelor

            Further reading

            Romansh

            Etymology

            Borrowed from Latin animal.

            Noun

            animal m (plural animals)

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

            Synonyms

            Spanish

            Etymology

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

            Pronunciation

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

            Adjective

            animal m or f (masculine and feminine plural animales)

            1. animal

            Noun

            animal m (plural animales)

            1. (biology) animal

            Derived terms

            Further reading

            Anagrams

            Tagalog

            Etymology

            Borrowed from Spanish animal, from Latin animal.

            Pronunciation

            Noun

            animál (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜈᜒᜋᜎ᜔)

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

            Derived terms

            Interjection

            animál (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜈᜒᜋᜎ᜔)

            1. animal!
              Synonym: hayop

            Anagrams

            Tok Pisin

            Etymology

            From English animal.

            Noun

            animal

            1. animal (any member of the kingdom Animalia that is not a human)
              Synonym: abus
              • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 1:25:
                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.
                →New International Version translation

            Derived terms

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