Real Words Without Definition
We're sure about this one.
The Latin name of a group of plants or animals.
The naming system runs on endings, which is why there are so many. -idae is an animal family, -aceae a plant family, -inae a subfamily, -ales an order. achetidae is the crickets, acraeinae is a group of butterflies, agalenidae is the funnel-weaver spiders.
They are capitalised in real use but arrive here in lower case like everything else.
2,849 words · sorted A to Z · each with a line on why it is here
Matches the word itself, not the note beside it. Case does not matter.
| Word, sorted Z to A | What it names |
|---|---|
| leiotrichidae | family of babbling thrushes |
| leiotrichinae | subfamily of babblers |
| lemaneaceae | family of freshwater red algae |
| lemoniinae | subfamily of lemoniid moths |
| lepargyraea | genus of buffalo-berry (= Shepherdia) |
| lepidoidei | order of ganoid fishes |
| lepidophloios | genus of fossil lycopod trees |
| lepidosirenidae | family of South American lungfishes |
| lepidosperma | genus of Australian sedges |
| lepidospermae | group of scaly-seeded plants |
| lepidosphes | genus of armored scale insects (Lepidosaphes) |
| lepidostei | group of ganoid fishes, the garpikes |
| lepidostrobus | form-genus of fossil lycopod cones |
| lepocyta | group of loricate protists |
| leposternidae | family of mud turtles |
| lepralia | genus of encrusting bryozoans |
| leptamnium | genus of beech-drops (= Epifagus) |
| leptandra | genus of Culver's-root figworts |
| leptocardia | class of chordates, the lancelets |
| leptocephalidae | nominal family of eel larvae |
| leptolepidae | family of Jurassic fossil fishes |
| leptolinae | group of campanularian hydroids |
| leptoptilus | genus of adjutant storks |
| lernaeacea | group of parasitic copepods |
| lernaeoides | group of lernaeoid parasitic copepods |
| lestosaurus | genus of fossil reptiles |
| leuciferidae | family of sergestid shrimps |
| leuckartiidae | family of calcareous sponges |
| leucobryaceae | family of mosses (Leucobryum) |
| libytheidae | family of snout butterflies |
| libytheinae | subfamily of snout butterflies |
| lichenoporidae | family of cyclostome bryozoans |
| lichnophora | genus of ciliate protozoans |
| lichnophoridae | family of ciliate protozoans |
| liguliflorae | division of Compositae with ligulate flowers |
| ligyda | genus of isopod crustaceans (Ligia) |
| ligydidae | family of shore isopods |
| limacea | group of slugs (Limacea) |
| limicolae | the shore-birds, order Limicolae |
| limnanthemum | genus of aquatic plants, the floating hearts |
| limnophilidae | family of caddis-flies |
| limnoriidae | family of gribble isopods |
| limuloidea | order of horseshoe crabs |
| lingoum | genus of leguminous trees, the padauks |
| linguatulida | order of tongue-worms |
| linguatulina | suborder of tongue-worms |
| linopteris | genus of fossil ferns |
| liotrichi | group of babbling thrushes |
| liotrichidae | family of babblers |
| liparididae | family of moths (tussock moths) |
| lipeurus | genus of bird-lice |
| lipobranchia | group of gill-less molluscs |
| lipopoda | group of footless animals |
| lissencephala | group of mammals with smooth brains |
| lissoflagellata | group of smooth flagellate protozoans |
| lithosiidae | family of lichen moths |
| lithosiinae | subfamily of lichen moths |
| litorinidae | family of periwinkle sea-snails |
| lituola | genus of foraminifera |
| loasaceae | family of flowering plants, the loasas |
| locustidae | family of grasshoppers |
| lonchopteridae | family of spear-winged flies |
| lophiodontidae | extinct family of perissodactyls |
| lophiomyidae | family of crested rats |
| lophiomyinae | subfamily of crested rats |
| lophobranchii | order of tuft-gilled fishes |
| lophocomi | group of crested birds |
| lophophorinae | subfamily of monal pheasants |
| lophopoda | group of crested bryozoans |
| loxiinae | subfamily of crossbills |
| loxolophodon | extinct genus of large mammals |
| loxosomidae | family of entoproct animals |
| lucinacea | superfamily of lucinid bivalves |
| lujula | old genus name for wood-sorrel, Oxalis |
| lupinaster | old plant name, the lupine-like clover |
| lutianidae | family of snappers |
| lutianus | genus of snappers (Lutjanus) |
| lycodidae | family of eelpouts |
| lycopsida | class of clubmosses |
| lyctidae | family of powder-post beetles |
| lyencephala | group of mammals with loosely joined brains |
| lyngbyaceae | family of blue-green algae |
| lyngbyeae | tribe of blue-green algae |
| lyomeri | order of gulper eels |
| lyonetiidae | family of small moths |
| lyopoma | brachiopod of the Lyopomata |
| lyopomata | group of brachiopods |
| machairodontidae | family of sabre-toothed cats |
| maclurea | genus of fossil gastropods |
| macoma | genus of tellin bivalves |
| macrocentrinae | subfamily of braconid wasps |
| macrochira | genus of giant spider crabs |
| macrorhamphosidae | family of snipefishes |
| macrorhamphosus | genus of snipefishes |
| macrostachya | New Latin epithet, long-spiked |
| macrotheriidae | family of fossil chalicotheres |
| macrotolagus | genus of jackrabbits |
| macrura | division of long-tailed decapod crustaceans |
| madreporacea | group of stony corals |
| maenidae | family of picarel fishes |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
