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 |
|---|---|
| maiidae | family of spider crabs |
| maioidea | superfamily of spider crabs |
| malacodermatidae | family of soft-bodied beetles |
| malacodermidae | family of soft-winged beetles |
| malacopoda | class of velvet worms, Onychophora |
| malacoscolices | group of soft-bodied gephyrean worms |
| malleifera | group of hammer-oyster bivalves |
| manatidae | family of manatees |
| mantoidea | superfamily of mantises |
| margarodinae | subfamily of scale insects |
| marsiliaceae | family of water ferns |
| marsipobranchia | class of cyclostome fishes |
| marsipobranchiata | class of cyclostome fishes |
| marsipobranchii | class of cyclostome fishes |
| marssonia | genus of fungi |
| marsupiata | order of marsupial mammals |
| masarididae | family of pollen wasps |
| masaridinae | subfamily of pollen wasps |
| masaris | genus of pollen wasps |
| mastigopoda | group of flagellate protozoa |
| maurandia | genus of climbing plants |
| mayaca | genus of aquatic bog-moss plants |
| mecaptera | older spelling of Mecoptera, scorpion-flies |
| megadrili | group of large earthworms |
| megalaemidae | family of barbets |
| megalopinae | subfamily of tarpons |
| megalornithidae | family of large fossil birds |
| megamastictora | group of wide-gaped birds |
| megaphyton | genus of fossil tree ferns |
| megapterinae | subfamily of humpback whales |
| megarhinus | genus of mosquitoes (Megarhinus) |
| megophthalmus | genus of leafhoppers (Megophthalmus) |
| melanconiaceae | family of imperfect fungi |
| melanconiales | order of imperfect fungi |
| melastomaceae | family of tropical flowering plants |
| meleagridae | family of turkeys |
| meleagrina | genus of pearl oysters |
| meleagrinae | subfamily containing the turkeys |
| meliponinae | subfamily of stingless bees |
| melogrammataceae | family of pyrenomycete fungi |
| melolonthidae | family of chafer beetles |
| melolonthides | group of scarabaeid chafer beetles |
| menobranchidae | family of mudpuppy salamanders |
| menorhyncha | group of insects with permanent beaks |
| menotyphla | group of insectivores (tree shrews, elephant shrews) |
| menthaceae | family of mint plants |
| menurae | group containing the lyrebirds |
| mephitinae | subfamily of skunks |
| meridionaceae | family of diatoms |
| merodus | genus name, fossil fish |
| meromyaria | group of nematodes with few muscle cells |
| meropes | group of bee-eaters (Merops) |
| merosomata | group of segmented arthropods |
| merycopotamidae | family of fossil artiodactyls |
| mesitae | group containing the Madagascar mesites |
| mesitidae | family of mesite birds |
| mesodesmidae | family of marine bivalve molluscs |
| mesoenatides | group of Madagascar mesite birds |
| mesomyodi | suborder of birds with mesomyodian syrinx |
| mesonemertini | group of nemertean worms |
| mesostomatidae | family of rhabdocoel flatworms |
| mesotaeniales | order of desmid-like green algae |
| metachlamydeae | Metachlamydeae, division of sympetalous dicots |
| metanemertini | Metanemertini, order of nemertean worms |
| metaspermae | Metaspermae, the angiosperms |
| metopoceros | Metopoceros, genus of rhinoceros iguanas |
| micrococceae | Micrococceae, tribe of spherical bacteria |
| microconodon | Microconodon, genus of Triassic cynodonts |
| microcos | Microcos, genus of tropical trees |
| microdrili | Microdrili, group of small oligochaete worms |
| micromastictora | Latinate group name, minute-jawed forms |
| micropodi | Micropodi, old group name for the swifts |
| micropodidae | Micropodidae, family of swifts (now Apodidae) |
| micropodiformes | Micropodiformes, order of swifts |
| micropterygidae | Micropterygidae, family of primitive moths |
| micropterygoidea | Micropterygoidea, superfamily of moths |
| micropteryx | Micropteryx, genus of primitive moths |
| microsporon | Microsporon, genus of ringworm fungi |
| microthelyphonida | Microthelyphonida, minute whip scorpions |
| mididae | family of mydas flies (Mydidae) |
| miliola | genus of foraminifera |
| miminae | subfamily of mockingbirds |
| moaria | proposed group of moas (ratite birds) |
| moeritheriidae | family of primitive proboscideans |
| mohrodendron | genus of silverbell trees |
| molluscoidea | former group of bryozoans and brachiopods |
| monadina | group of flagellate protozoa |
| monascidiae | group of simple ascidians (tunicates) |
| monax | specific name of the woodchuck, Arctomys monax |
| monaxonida | order of siliceous sponges |
| monerozoa | group of the simplest animals |
| moniliaceae | family of hyphomycete fungi |
| moniliales | order of imperfect fungi |
| monocondyla | group of vertebrates with one occipital condyle |
| monocyclica | group of crinoids with a single basal circlet |
| monocystidea | group of gregarine protozoa |
| monomya | bivalves with a single adductor muscle |
| monomyaria | order of bivalves with one adductor muscle |
| mononchus | genus of predatory nematodes |
| monopetalae | division of plants with united petals |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
