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 |
|---|---|
| nidulariales | order of bird's-nest fungi |
| nitzschiaceae | family of pennate diatoms |
| noctilucidae | family of luminous dinoflagellates |
| nodosaria | genus of foraminifers |
| nomadidae | family of cuckoo bees (Nomada) |
| nomarthra | group of edentate mammals |
| nondeciduata | mammals lacking a decidua, vs Deciduata |
| nothosauri | plural of Nothosaurus, Triassic marine reptiles |
| notidani | plural of Notidanus, the cow sharks |
| notidanidae | family of cow (six-gilled) sharks |
| nototrema | genus of pouched tree frogs |
| notungulata | extinct order of South American ungulates |
| nuculacea | group of nut clams, Nucula |
| nullipennes | group of flightless birds, penguins |
| numidinae | subfamily of guineafowl |
| nummulinidae | family of foraminifera |
| nyctea | genus of the snowy owl |
| nyctipithecinae | subfamily of night monkeys |
| nyctipithecus | genus of night monkeys, douroucouli |
| nymphipara | division of flies producing nymphs |
| nymphonacea | superfamily of sea spiders, Nymphon |
| nyroca | epithet of the ferruginous duck, Aythya nyroca |
| oakesia | plant genus, the bellworts |
| ocellana | epithet of the eye-spotted bud moth |
| ochrogaster | epithet meaning yellow-bellied |
| octacnemus | genus of deep-sea ascidians |
| octactiniae | group of eight-tentacled anthozoans |
| octocoralla | group of eight-tentacled corals |
| octogynia | Linnaean plant order with eight pistils |
| ocypoda | genus of ghost crabs, Ocypode |
| ocyroidae | family of ctenophores |
| odacidae | family of fishes, the rock whitings |
| odontaspidae | family of sand sharks |
| odontoglossae | group of birds, the flamingos |
| odontognathae | group of toothed fossil birds |
| odontolcae | order of toothed fossil birds |
| odontophorinae | subfamily of American quail |
| odontopteris | genus of fossil ferns |
| odontormae | group of toothed fossil birds |
| odontornithes | subclass of toothed fossil birds |
| odontotormae | group of toothed fossil birds |
| odostemon | plant genus, the Oregon grape, Mahonia |
| oedemeridae | family of false blister beetles |
| oedicnemus | genus of stone curlews |
| oenotheraceae | family of evening primroses |
| oestrelata | genus of petrels, now Pterodroma |
| olethreutidae | family of tortricid moths |
| oligomyodae | group of passerine birds |
| oliniaceae | family of flowering plants |
| olpidiaster | genus of chytrid fungi |
| ommastrephidae | family of flying squids |
| onchidiidae | family of air-breathing sea slugs |
| oosporeae | old group of oospore-forming fungi |
| ootocoidea | old group including the marsupials |
| oozoa | old group of animals developed from eggs |
| opalinidae | family of ciliate protozoa |
| operculata | group of shells having an operculum |
| ophicephalidae | family of snakehead fishes |
| ophicephalus | genus of snakehead fishes |
| ophichthyidae | family of snake eels |
| ophidiidae | family of cusk-eels |
| ophidiobatrachia | old group of snake-like amphibians |
| ophidium | genus of cusk-eels |
| ophiobatrachia | old group of snake-like amphibians |
| ophioninae | subfamily of ichneumon wasps |
| ophiosaurus | genus of glass lizards (Ophisaurus) |
| opilionina | group of harvestmen |
| opilonea | group of harvestmen (Opilionea) |
| opisthocoelia | old group of opisthocoelous reptiles |
| opisthocomi | bird order containing the hoatzin |
| opisthoglossa | group of frogs, tongue free behind |
| opisthoglypha | group of rear-fanged snakes |
| opisthognathidae | family of jawfishes |
| opisthoparia | trilobites with rear-cutting facial sutures |
| opulaster | former genus of ninebark shrubs (now Physocarpus) |
| opuntiaceae | family of cacti (prickly pears) |
| opuntiales | order containing the cacti |
| orbiculoidea | genus of fossil brachiopods |
| orbitelariae | group of orb-weaving spiders |
| orbitoides | genus of fossil foraminifera |
| orbitolites | genus of foraminifera |
| orbulina | genus of planktonic foraminifera |
| orchestiidae | family of amphipods (sandhoppers) |
| oregoni | Latin specific epithet, "of Oregon" |
| oreodon | extinct genus of oreodont mammals |
| oreodontidae | family of extinct oreodont mammals |
| oreophasinae | subfamily containing the horned guan |
| oreopithecus | genus of Miocene fossil apes |
| oribatidae | family of oribatid mites |
| ornithocephalidae | family of pterosaurs |
| ornithodelphia | the monotremes as a group |
| ornithopappi | group name for certain fossil birds |
| ornithopteris | genus of ferns |
| ornithosauria | order of pterosaurs |
| ornithoscelida | Huxley's extinct group of dinosaurs |
| orobatoidea | superfamily of oribatid mites |
| ortalidae | family of picture-winged flies |
| orthidae | family of fossil brachiopods |
| orthis | genus of fossil brachiopods |
| orthoceratidae | family of straight-shelled fossil cephalopods |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
