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 |
|---|---|
| polymastigina | suborder of flagellate protozoa |
| polymastodon | genus of extinct multituberculate mammals |
| polymyaria | group of nematode worms |
| polymyarii | group of nematode worms |
| polymyodi | group of song-birds with many syringeal muscles |
| polypoda | group of many-footed animals |
| polypomorpha | group of polyp-like animals |
| polyprotodontia | group of many-incisored marsupials |
| polysaccum | genus of gasteromycete puffball fungi |
| polyspora | genus of trees of the tea family |
| polystomata | group of many-mouthed trematode worms |
| polystomatidae | family of trematode flukes |
| polystomea | group of many-mouthed trematodes |
| polystomella | genus of foraminifers |
| polystomidae | family of trematode flukes |
| polythalamia | group of many-chambered foraminifers |
| pomatomidae | family of fishes, the bluefishes |
| poncirus | genus of citrus, the trifoliate orange |
| poneramoeba | genus of primitive amoebae |
| poneridae | family of ants |
| porphyraceae | family of red algae |
| portheus | genus of Cretaceous fossil fishes |
| potamonidae | family of freshwater crabs |
| priapulacea | order of priapulid worms |
| priapulidae | family of priapulid worms |
| priapuloidea | group of priapulid worms |
| primulales | order of primrose-like plants |
| primulinus | Latin specific epithet, as Gladiolus primulinus |
| priodon | genus name, Gr. "saw-tooth" (fish, armadillo) |
| prionidae | family of longicorn beetles |
| prioninae | subfamily of longhorn beetles |
| prionodesmacea | order of bivalve molluscs |
| prionopinae | subfamily of helmet-shrikes |
| pristipomatidae | family of grunt fishes |
| pristipomidae | family of grunt fishes |
| proarthri | NL. zoological group (pro- + arthron, joint) |
| proctotrypidae | family of parasitic wasps |
| proctotrypoidea | superfamily of parasitic wasps |
| procyoniformia | group of carnivores including the raccoons |
| proetidae | family of trilobites |
| proganosauria | order of primitive aquatic reptiles |
| promammalia | group of primitive mammals, the monotremes |
| proparia | division of trilobites |
| propionibacterieae | tribe of propionic-acid bacteria |
| proreptilia | group of primitive fossil reptiles |
| prorhipidoglossomorpha | group of gastropod molluscs |
| prosarthri | zoological group, Gr. pro- + arthron, joint |
| proserpinaca | genus of aquatic plants, mermaid-weed |
| prosimiae | suborder of primates, the prosimians |
| proteida | group of aquatic salamanders |
| protelidae | family of carnivores containing the aardwolf |
| protelytroptera | extinct order of insects, ancestral earwigs |
| proteosauridae | extinct family of marine reptiles |
| proteosaurus | genus of fossil ichthyosaurs |
| protephemeroidea | extinct order of mayfly-like insects |
| protoascales | order of primitive ascomycete fungi |
| protoascomycetes | class of primitive ascomycete fungi |
| protobasidii | fungal group, the heterobasidiomycetes |
| protobasidiomycetes | class of fungi with septate basidia |
| protobranchiata | order of bivalve molluscs |
| protochorda | group of primitive chordates |
| protochordata | group of primitive chordates |
| protococcaceae | family of green algae |
| protococcales | order of green algae |
| protodonata | extinct order of giant dragonfly-like insects |
| protodonta | group of primitive-toothed mammals |
| protogenes | genus of primitive protozoa (Haeckel) |
| protohemiptera | extinct order of hemipteran insects |
| protohymenoptera | extinct order of hymenopteran insects |
| protomastigida | order of flagellate protozoa |
| protominobacter | genus of bacteria |
| protomonadina | suborder of flagellate protozoa |
| protomycetales | order of fungi |
| protonemertini | order of nemertean worms |
| protoperlaria | extinct order of insects |
| protopteridae | family of lungfishes |
| protoselachii | order of primitive sharks |
| protosiphonaceae | family of green algae |
| protospondyli | order of ganoid fishes |
| protostegidae | family of fossil sea turtles |
| prototracheata | group of onychophorans |
| protracheata | group of onychophorans |
| protremata | order of brachiopods |
| prunaceae | plant family of the plums |
| psammocharidae | family of spider wasps |
| psedera | former genus of vines, now Parthenocissus |
| pselaphidae | family of ant-loving beetles |
| pseudaxine | genus of monogenean flukes |
| pseudococcinae | subfamily of mealybugs |
| pseudolamellibranchia | order of bivalve molluscs |
| pseudolamellibranchiata | order of bivalve molluscs |
| pseudoneuroptera | former order of insects |
| pseudoobscura | species epithet, Drosophila pseudoobscura |
| pseudoscines | suborder of non-oscine passerine birds |
| pseudotetramera | former group of beetles with 4 apparent tarsal joints |
| pseudotrimera | former group of beetles with 3 apparent tarsal joints |
| psiloceras | genus of Jurassic ammonites |
| psiloceratidae | family of Jurassic ammonites |
| psilophytales | order of fossil vascular plants |
| psittacomorphae | superorder of parrots |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
