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 |
|---|---|
| alcicornium | genus of staghorn ferns (Platycerium) |
| alcyoniaceae | family of soft corals |
| alebion | genus of parasitic copepods |
| alectorides | group of crane- and rail-like birds |
| alectoromorphae | group of fowl-like birds |
| alectoropodes | division of fowl-footed birds |
| alectrionidae | family of nassa marine snails |
| aleochara | genus of rove beetles |
| aleurobius | genus of flour mites |
| aleurodidae | family of whiteflies |
| alismaceae | family of water-plantains |
| alismales | order of water-plantains |
| allaeanthus | genus of mulberry-family trees |
| allioniaceae | former family, the four-o'clock plants |
| alpiniaceae | family based on Alpinia, ginger relatives |
| alsinaceae | former family, the chickweeds |
| alticamelus | extinct genus of giraffe-camels |
| aluconidae | family of barn owls |
| aluconinae | subfamily of barn owls |
| alveolites | genus of tabulate corals |
| alypum | the shrub Globularia alypum |
| amanitopsis | former genus of agaric fungi |
| amarantaceae | the amaranth family |
| amblycephalidae | family of snail-eating snakes |
| amblycephalus | genus of blunt-headed snakes |
| amblydactyla | group of blunt-toed animals |
| amblyopsidae | family of cavefishes |
| amblypoda | extinct order of ungulates |
| amblystoma | genus of mole salamanders |
| ambocoelia | genus of fossil brachiopods |
| ambulia | genus of aquatic plants |
| ambystomidae | family of mole salamanders |
| amebobacter | genus of purple sulphur bacteria |
| ameiuridae | family of North American catfishes |
| amentiferae | group of catkin-bearing plants |
| amianthium | genus of lilies, fly-poison |
| amioidei | order of bowfin fishes |
| ammiaceae | family of umbelliferous plants |
| ammobium | genus of Australian everlasting flowers |
| ammocoetidae | family of lampreys |
| ammonea | old group of ammonoid cephalopods |
| ammonitoidea | suborder of ammonoid cephalopods |
| amnigenia | genus of fossil freshwater bivalves |
| amnionata | old name for the Amniota |
| amoebida | order of amoeboid protozoa |
| amoebobacter | genus of purple sulphur bacteria |
| amoebobacterieae | tribe of bacteria |
| amoebogeniae | old group of amoeboid protozoa |
| amomales | order of monocots, the ginger group |
| amorphotae | old group name for shapeless organisms |
| amorphozoa | old group name for the sponges |
| ampelidaceae | the grape family, Vitaceae |
| ampelidae | family of birds, the waxwings |
| ampelosicyos | genus of Madagascan cucurbits |
| amphibiotica | group of insects with aquatic larvae |
| amphicarpa | genus of leguminous vines, hog peanut |
| amphicarpaea | genus of legumes, hog peanut |
| amphicarpus | grass genus, Amphicarpum |
| amphicondyla | vertebrates with two occipital condyles |
| amphidiscophora | order of hexactinellid sponges |
| amphigamae | plants of obscure reproduction |
| amphineura | class of mollusks, the chitons |
| amphioxidae | family of lancelets |
| amphioxides | genus of pelagic larval lancelets |
| amphioxididae | family of lancelets |
| amphipleura | genus of diatoms |
| amphipneusta | amphibians having gills and lungs |
| amphipnous | genus of Asian swamp eels |
| amphirhina | vertebrates with paired nostrils |
| amphisile | genus of shrimpfishes |
| amphisilidae | family of shrimpfishes |
| amphistoma | genus of trematode flukes |
| amphistomum | genus of trematode flukes |
| amphizoidae | family of trout-stream beetles |
| amygdalaceae | the almond family of plants |
| amynodon | genus of extinct rhinoceroses |
| amyridaceae | former family of torchwood plants |
| anablepidae | family of four-eyed fishes |
| anacanthini | order of soft-rayed fishes, the cods |
| anacrogynae | group of leafy liverworts |
| analgesidae | family of feather mites |
| anallantoidea | vertebrates lacking an allantois |
| anamniata | vertebrates without an amnion |
| anamnionata | vertebrates without an amnion |
| anamniota | vertebrates without an amnion |
| anapterygota | primitively wingless insects |
| anaptomorphidae | family of fossil primates |
| anaptomorphus | genus of Eocene primates |
| anarcestes | genus of Devonian goniatites |
| anarthropoda | invertebrates without jointed limbs |
| anaspides | genus of syncarid crustaceans |
| anastatus | genus of chalcid wasps |
| anatherum | genus of grasses |
| anatifae | Anatifa, barnacle genus (plural) |
| anatinacea | group of duck-like birds |
| anchistopoda | group of malacostracan crustaceans |
| ancistrocladaceae | family of tropical woody vines |
| ancistrodon | genus of pit vipers |
| ancylodactyla | zool. group with hooked digits |
| ancylopoda | suborder of chalicotheres |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
