altricial
/ælˈtɹɪʃəl/
altricial adjective: helpless at birth (of young animals); or having young which are helpless at birth.
Adjective
altricial (comparative more altricial, superlative most altricial)
- Helpless at birth (of young animals); or having young which are helpless at birth.
- Altricial young are typical among carnivores, which might be expected to be hampered in their hunting behaviour if the pregnant mother has to carry its young for a long period.2001, Gonyou, Keeling & Keeling, Social Behaviour in Farm Animals, CABI Publishing, published 2001, page 63
- First, humans are altricial, with immature newborns and a long childhood.2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 281
- Synonyms:
- altricious, nidicolous
Noun
altricial (plural altricials)
- Such an animal.
altricial meaning in Tamil
altricial in Tamil
- பின்முதிர் குஞ்சு
Synonyms of altricial
Antonyms
Forms of altricial
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more altricial |
| superlative | most altricial |
| Noun | |
| plural | altricials |
Origin of altricial
From New Latin Altrices (a former division of birds), plural of altrīx, the feminine of altor (“nourisher”), from alere (“to nourish”).
Words formed from altricial
Words that rhyme with altricial
- official
- superficial
- artificial
- judicial
- unofficial
- beneficial
- initial
- prejudicial
- adventitial
- comitial
- extrajudicial
- interstitial
16 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about altricial
- What does altricial mean?
- Altricial means helpless at birth (of young animals); or having young which are helpless at birth.
- What is altricial in Tamil?
- Altricial in Tamil is பின்முதிர் குஞ்சு. See Altricial meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is altricial?
- Altricial can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce altricial?
- Altricial is pronounced /ælˈtɹɪʃəl/.
Words near altricial in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: altricial (page history and authors); altricial (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-altricial.wav.
Cite this entry: “altricial.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/altricial. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.