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 |
|---|---|
| vanessian | butterfly of the genus Vanessa |
| vaucheriaceous | of the Vaucheriaceae, felted green algae |
| velellidous | of the Velellidae, the by-the-wind-sailors |
| veneracea | superfamily of venus clams |
| veneracean | a bivalve of the Veneracea |
| veneraceous | of the Veneracea, the venus clams |
| vermilingues | the worm-tongued mammals, anteaters |
| vermilinguia | suborder of anteaters |
| vertebraria | fossil genus of Glossopteris rootstocks |
| vesiculata | division of hydroid polyps with vesicle-like gonothecae |
| vesiculatae | Vesiculatae, the same hydroid division in the -atae form |
| villiplacentalia | group of mammals with villous placentas |
| viperoidea | superfamily of viperine snakes |
| virgilia | genus of South African leguminous trees |
| vorticellidae | family of bell-animalcule ciliates |
| vorticellum | a vorticellid ciliate, Latin form beside Vorticella |
| williamsoniaceae | family of fossil bennettitalean plants |
| xanthoxalis | genus of yellow wood sorrels |
| xenarchi | an order of fishes in older classifications |
| xenomorpha | a zoological group name |
| xenophoridae | family of carrier shells, marine gastropods |
| xenopteri | an order of fishes |
| xiphisura | order of horseshoe crabs, var. Xiphosura |
| xiphiura | Latin group name for sword-tailed forms |
| xiphius | genus name beside Xiphias, the swordfishes |
| xiphodontidae | family of extinct artiodactyls |
| xiphosuridae | family of horseshoe crabs |
| yetapa | genus of South American tyrant flycatchers |
| zalambdodonta | group of insectivores with V-shaped molars |
| zamicrus | genus name, Greek za- (very) + micro- |
| zanclodontidae | family of extinct reptiles |
| zannichelliaceae | family of horned pondweeds |
| zanthorrhiza | genus of yellowroot shrubs, Xanthorhiza |
| zanthoxylaceae | family of the prickly ashes |
| zaphrentidae | family of rugose corals |
| zeuctocoelomata | division of coelomate animals |
| zeuglodontia | group of fossil archaeocete whales |
| zeuglodontidae | family of fossil whales (Zeuglodon) |
| zeugobranchia | order of gastropods with paired gills |
| zinjanthropi | plural of Zinjanthropus, fossil hominin genus |
| zoanthidea | order of zoanthid anthozoans |
| zonitidae | family of land snails |
| zonuridae | family of girdled lizards |
| zoomastigoda | class of animal-like flagellates |
| zoophagineae | group of animal-eating forms |
| zygnemales | order of conjugating green algae |
| zygobranchiata | group of gastropods with paired gills |
| zygopteraceae | family of fossil ferns (Zygopteris) |
| zygopteris | genus of fossil ferns |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
