animal
Syllables: an·i·malUK/ˈænɪməl/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/ˈanɪməl/
animal noun: a multicellular organism of the kingdom Animalia that is usually mobile, with cells that are not encased in a rigid cell wall (distinguishing them from plants and fungi) and derives energy solely from the consumption of other organisms.
Noun (1)
animal (plural animals)
- A multicellular organism of the kingdom Animalia that is usually mobile, with cells that are not encased in a rigid cell wall (distinguishing them from plants and fungi) and derives energy solely from the consumption of other organisms.
- Near-synonym: critter
- Humans, like other animals, need air to breathe and food to eat.
- Synonyms:
- critter
- Any member of the kingdom Animalia other than a human.
- Synonyms:
- beast
- A higher animal; an animal related to humans.
- When he's hungry my toddler opens his mouth like an animal instead of asking us to feed him.
- A tetrapod; a land-dwelling nonhuman vertebrate.
- Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to...2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4
- A warm-blooded animal; a mammal or bird.
- A non-human mammal.
- I spent my summer studying the animals and birds of the two islands.
- Birds are as popular as animals in the toy kingdom, especially pigeons, owls and domestic hens.1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 54
- A person who behaves wildly; a bestial, brutal, brutish, cruel, or inhuman person.
- My students are animals.
- Own me, I'll let you play the role
I'll be your animal2019, “Bad Guy”, Finneas O'Connell, Billie Eilish O'Connell (lyrics), performed by Billie Eilish
- A person who overeats or eats rapidly and noisily.
- A person of a particular type specified by an adjective.
- He's a political animal.
- Matter, thing.
- a whole different animal
- no such animal
Adjective
animal (not comparable)
- Of or relating to animals.
- animal instincts
- The season has been most unfavourable to animal life; and I, who am merely animal, have suffered much by it.1783 June 3, William Cowper, “To the Rev. William Bull”, in Private Correspondence of William Cowper, Esq. with Several of His Most Intimate Friends. […], volume I, London: […] Henry Colburn, […]...
- Raw, base, unhindered by social codes.
- animal passions
- But the line also distills pop culture’s big commandment about sex to its animal essence: If you’re not screwing somebody, you’re nobody.2016 August 26, Spencer Kornhaber, “Britney Spears Finds Grace in the Hook-Up on 'Glory'”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 29 Sep 2016
- Synonyms:
- animalistic, beastly, bestial, untamed, wild
- Pertaining to the spirit or soul; relating to sensation or innervation.
- To explain what activated the flesh, ‘animal spirits’ were posited, superfine fluids which shuttled between the mind and the vitals, conveying messages and motion.2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Penguin, published 2004, page 47
- Excellent.
Proper noun capitalized: Animal
Animal
- A nickname given to people, especially wild people.
Noun (2) capitalized: Animal
Animal (plural Animals)
- A fan of Kesha, an American singer.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:Animal.
animal meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
animal in Hindi
- organism
- पशु paśu, जानवर jānvar, हैवान haivān, जंतु jantu, जनावर janāvar, जिनावर jināvar
- organism other than human
- हैवान haivān, जंतु jantu, जानवर jānvar
- person who behaves wildly
- हैवान haivān, जानवर jānvar
- of animals
- हैवानी haivānī
animal in Tamil
- organism
- விலங்கு vilaṅku, மிருகம் mirukam
animal in Marathi
- organism
- जनावर janāvar, प्राणी prāṇī
- organism other than human
- जनावर janāvar, पशू paśū
- person who behaves wildly
- जनावर janāvar, हैवान haivān
animal in Urdu
- organism
- حَیوان haivān, جانْوَر jānvar
More languagesFewer languages
- animal in Bengali
- জানোয়ার janōẇar
- animal in Telugu
- జంతువు jantuvu
- animal in Malayalam
- മൃഗം mr̥gaṁ, ജന്തു jantu
- animal in Kannada
- ಪ್ರಾಣಿ prāṇi
- animal in Punjabi
- ਹੈਵਾਨ haivān, حَیوان ḥaivān
- animal in Gujarati
- પ્રાણી prāṇī
- animal in Odia
- ଜନ୍ମୀ janmi, ପ୍ରାଣୀ prāṇi, ଜନ୍ତୁ jantu
- animal in Sanskrit
- पशु paśu, मृग mṛga, प्राणी prāṇī
- animal in Sinhala
- සතා satā
- animal in Assamese
- জন্তু zontu
- animal in Nepali
- जनावर janāwar
- animal in Pashto
- حيوان ḥayvān, ژوي žoy, žuy
- animal in Tagalog
- hayop
- animal in Arabic
- حَيَوَان ḥayawān, وَحْش waḥš
- animal in Malay
- binatang, haiwan, satwa
- animal in Indonesian
- hewan, binatang, satwa
- animal in Persian
- حیوانی heyvâni
- animal in Thai
- สัตว์ sàt
- animal in Vietnamese
- thú vật, động vật
- animal in Myanmar
- တိရစ္ဆာန် ti.rachcan, သတ္တဝါ satta.wa, အကောင် a.kaung
- Kashmiri
- جانور jānōr
- Dzongkha
- སེམས་ཅན sems can
Examples of animal in a sentence
- With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
- “Long Story Short,” a new animated series from Raphael Bob-Waksberg with art by Lisa Hanawalt, trades the talking animals for kvetching humans.2025 August 21, Robert Ito, “The Makers of ‘BoJack Horseman’ Take Family Matters by the Reins”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The...
- She speculated that things could deteriorate later: “I think they’re scared of the English, which is fair; we are animals.”2024 July 14, Rachel Hall, quoting Jodie White, “‘I’ve never seen owt like it’: England fans in Benidorm in high spirits before Euro...
- Richardson, &c. &c. both animal and vegetal remains have been detected in Basalt and Wacke.1809, William Martin, Outlines of an Attempt to Establish a Knowledge of Extraneous Fossils, on Scientific Principles. […], Macclesfield...
Synonyms of animal
22 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of animal
| plural | animals |
|---|---|
| plural | Animals |
Origin of animal
From Middle English animal, from Old French animal, from Latin animal, a nominal use of the adjective form animāle, neuter of animālis, from anima (“breath, spirit”). Displaced native English deer (outside puristic usage) in the general animal sense, from Middle English der, deor (“animal”), from Old English dēor, related to German Tier (“animal”), Dutch dier, Danish dyr, Swedish djur etc. Displaced also rother (“horned animal, esp. ox”, now obsolete), from Middle English rother, reother (“a bovine”), from Old English hrīþer, hrȳþer.
From Middle English animal, from Latin animālis, from either anima (“breath, spirit”) or animus. Originally distinct from the noun, it became associated with attributive use of the noun and is now indistinguishable from it.
Words formed from animal
- advice animal
- ambassador animal
- animal activist
- animal African trypanosomiasis
- animal-assisted therapy
- animal black
- animal cabinet
- animal charcoal
- animal coat
- animal companion
- animal control
- animal control officer
- animal cracker
- animal dentistry
- animal dye
- animalesque
- animal experimentation
- animal fat
- animal feed
- animal flower
- animal food
- animal fries
- animal heat
- animal hoarding
- animalhood
- animal house
- animal husbandry
- animalian
- animalicide
- animalish
- animalism
- animalist
- animalistic
- animalivore
- animalivorous
- Animal Jammer
- animalkind
- animal kingdom
- animal liberation
- animal-like
- animal magnetism
- animaloid
- animal print
- animal product
- animal protein factor
- animal registry
- animal reminder disgust
- animal rights
- animal sanctuary
- animal science
- animal shelter
- animal soul
- animal starch
- animal tester
- animal testing
- animal trafficking
- animal trypanosomiasis
- animal unit
- animal welfare
- animal welfarist
Phrases with animal
- Set animal
- zoo animal
- animal dyes
- animal fats
- animal pole
- farm animal
- moss animal
- pack animal
- rare animal
- wild animal
- animal coats
- animal feeds
59 more phrasesFewer phrases
- animal foods
- animal poles
- animal souls
- animal units
- draft animal
- funny animal
- party animal
- plush animal
- power animal
- small animal
- stock animal
- wheel animal
- animal blacks
- animal houses
- animal prints
- spirit animal
- animal flowers
- Animal Jammers
- animal spirits
- animal testers
- balloon animal
- draught animal
- service animal
- stuffed animal
- therapy animal
- working animal
- animal cabinets
- animal crackers
- animal products
- animal sciences
- animal shelters
- compound animal
- Typhonic animal
- animal activists
- companion animal
- political animal
- Typhonian animal
- animal companions
- animal registries
- animal welfarists
- assistance animal
- animal husbandries
- animal sanctuaries
- ate like an animal
- eat like an animal
- eats like an animal
- animal liberationist
- eaten like an animal
- go the entire animal
- animal liberationists
- eating like an animal
- animal protein factors
- goes the entire animal
- gone the entire animal
- went the entire animal
- animal control officers
- going the entire animal
- emotional support animal
- intensive animal farming
Words that rhyme with animal
Questions about animal
- What does animal mean?
- Animal means a multicellular organism of the kingdom Animalia that is usually mobile, with cells that are not encased in a rigid cell wall (distinguishing them from plants and fungi) and derives energy solely from the consumption of other organisms.
- What is animal in Hindi?
- Animal in Hindi is पशु (paśu), जानवर (jānvar), हैवान (haivān). See Animal meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use animal in a sentence?
- With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.
- What part of speech is animal?
- Animal can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce animal?
- Animal is pronounced /ˈænɪməl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of animal?
- The plural of animal is animals.
Words near animal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: animal (page history and authors); Animal (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: en-us-animal.ogg.
Cite this entry: “animal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/animal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.