animal

See also: Animal and animâl

Languages (25)

English

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Asturian • Catacao • Catalan • Cebuano • Chavacano • Colán • Culli • French • Galician • Haitian Creole • Ilocano • Interlingua • Kabuverdianu • Kapampangan • Latin • Middle English • Middle French • Papiamentu • Portuguese • Romanian • Romansh • Spanish • Tagalog • Tok Pisin

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Page categories

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈænɪməl/
• (Standard Southern British, Northern England, Scotland, Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈanɪməl/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈænəməl/, [ˈɛənəməl]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (New York City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore, phonemic /æ/ raising) IPA^(key): /ˈænəməl/, [ˈænəməl]
• (Australia, General South African) IPA^(key): /ˈænəməl/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈɛnəməl/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˈæːnɪməl/, /ˈənɪməl/, (dialectal) /ˈenɪməl/
• Hyphenation: an‧i‧mal
• Rhymes: -ɪməl

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos

Proto-Italic *anamos

Latin animus

Latin anima

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin animālisnom.

Latin animalder.

Old French animalbor.

Middle English animal

English animal

Picture dictionary

animal

organism

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mammal

fish

amphibian

---

reptile

bird

insect

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.

Noun

animal (plural animals)

2. 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.

   Hypernyms: organism < creature

   Hyponyms: human, person; vertebrate, invertebrate

   Near-synonym: critter

   Humans, like other animals, need air to breathe and food to eat.

   • 1650, Thomas Browne, “Of the Cameleon”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 3rd book, page 133:

     It cannot be denied it [the chameleon] is (if not the moſt of any) a very abſtemious animall, and ſuch as by reaſon of its frigidity, paucity of bloud, and latitancy in the winter (about which time the obſervations are often made) will long ſubſist without a viſible ſuſtentation.

4. (loosely) Any member of the kingdom Animalia other than a human.

   Synonym: beast

   Coordinate terms: human, person

5. (loosely) 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.

   2. (colloquial) A tetrapod; a land-dwelling nonhuman vertebrate.
      • 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:

        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 turn grist into meal.

   3. A warm-blooded animal; a mammal or bird.
   4. A non-human mammal.

      I spent my summer studying the animals and birds of the two islands.

      • 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 54:

        Birds are as popular as animals in the toy kingdom, especially pigeons, owls and domestic hens.

      • 2025 August 21, Robert Ito, “The Makers of ‘BoJack Horseman’ Take Family Matters by the Reins”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 7 November 2025:

        “Long Story Short,” a new animated series from Raphael Bob-Waksberg with art by Lisa Hanawalt, trades the talking animals for kvetching humans.

7. (figuratively, derogatory) A person who behaves wildly; a bestial, brutal, brutish, cruel, or inhuman person.

   Synonyms: brute, monster, savage

   My students are animals.

   • 2019, “Bad Guy”, Finneas O'Connell, Billie Eilish O'Connell (lyrics), performed by Billie Eilish:

     Own me, I'll let you play the role
     I'll be your animal

   • 2024 July 14, Rachel Hall, quoting Jodie White, “‘I’ve never seen owt like it’: England fans in Benidorm in high spirits before Euro final”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 17 October 2026:

     She speculated that things could deteriorate later: “I think they’re scared of the English, which is fair; we are animals.”

8. (figuratively, derogatory) A person who overeats or eats rapidly and noisily.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:glutton

10. (informal) A person of a particular type specified by an adjective.

    He's a political animal.

12. (informal) Matter, thing.

    a whole different animal

    no such animal

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:animal

Derived terms

• advice animal
• ambassador animal
• animagus
• 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
• animalise
• animalish
• animalism
• animalist
• animalistic
• animalivore
• animalivorous
• Animal Jammer
• animalkind
• animal kingdom
• animal liberation
• animal-like
• animally
• 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
• animash
• animat
• anipal
• antianimal
• assistance animal
• balloon animal
• companimal
• companion animal
• compound animal
• draft animal
• draught animal
• eat like an animal
• emotional support animal
• farm animal
• funny animal
• go the entire animal
• intensive animal farming
• interanimal
• intraanimal
• koranimal
• manimal
• microanimal
• moss animal
• multianimal
• nonanimal
• pack animal
• party animal
• planimal
• plant-animal
• plush animal
• political animal
• power animal
• rare animal
• robo-animal
• scape-animal
• service animal
• Set animal
• small animal
• spirit animal
• stock animal
• stuffed animal
• therapy animal
• Typhonian animal
• Typhonic animal
• wereanimal
• wheel animal
• wild animal
• working animal
• zoo animal

Related terms

• anima
• animalcule
• Animalia
• animalier
• animate
• animus

Descendants

• Bislama: anamol, animol
• Pijin: animol
• Tok Pisin: animal
• → Esperanto: animalo
• → Ido: animalo
• → Volapük: nim

Translations

See animal/translations § Noun.

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos

Proto-Italic *anamos

Latin animus

Latin anima

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin animālisbor.

Middle English animal

English animal

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.

Adjective

animal (not comparable)

1. Of or relating to animals.

   Synonyms: beastly, bestial

   Coordinate term: vegetal

   animal instincts

   • 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, […], and Simpkin and Marshall, […], published 1824, page 266:

     The season has been most unfavourable to animal life; and I, who am merely animal, have suffered much by it.

   • 1809, William Martin, Outlines of an Attempt to Establish a Knowledge of Extraneous Fossils, on Scientific Principles. […], Macclesfield, Cheshire: […] J. Wilson. Sold by the Author, […]; J. White, […], and Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], page 141:

     […]—according to Sanssure, Abbé Fortis, Bruckenman, Jameson, Dr. Richardson, &c. &c. both animal and vegetal remains have been detected in Basalt and Wacke.

   • 1890, [Lena,] Lady Login, “Lucknow”, in Sir John Login and Duleep Singh, London: W. H. Allen & Co., […], page 78:

     The body was covered with soft hair, and though undoubtedly human, it was very animal in its instincts and ways.

   • 1918, W[ilhelm] Max Müller, “[Egyptian Mythology] Worship of Animals and Men”, in Louis Herbert Gray, George Foot Moore, editors, The Mythology of All Races […], volume XII (Egyptian; Indo-Chinese), Boston, Mass.: Marshall Jones Company, page 167:

     The unsatisfactory material at our command, however, renders it difficult to determine why we cannot prove a worship of a living incarnation for every deity who is represented on the monuments in a form either wholly or partially animal. We must wonder why, for example, the sacred hawk or hawks of Horus at Edfu (who never has human form) are scarcely mentioned.

   • 1913–1921, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter”, in England My England and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, published 24 October 1922, →OCLC, page 243:

     He looked down at the tangled wet hair, the wild, bare, animal shoulders.

   • 2012, Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis, New York, N.Y.: The Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 216:

     I thought: if pain is the thing shared by all living creatures, then I’m no longer human or animal or vegetal; I am unplugged from the tick of metabolism; I am mineral.

   • 2015 August, Joseph M. Luguya, “Part 1: The Demented Scholar”, in Humans: The Untold Story of Adam and Eve and their Descendants, volume one (The Thesis), Silver Spring, Md.: Original Books, →ISBN, page 46:

     In any case, the argument the inhabitants of these parts would have advanced as their strongest one against the so-called chastity belt would, of course, have been that living species, whether animal or vegetative, were made the way they were for an obvious reason.

2. Raw, base, unhindered by social codes.

   Synonyms: animalistic, beastly, bestial, untamed, wild

   animal passions

   • 2016 August 26, Spencer Kornhaber, “Britney Spears Finds Grace in the Hook-Up on 'Glory'”, in The Atlantic‎^[3], archived from the original on 29 September 2016:

     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.

3. Pertaining to the spirit or soul; relating to sensation or innervation.
   • 2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Penguin, published 2004, page 47:

     To explain what activated the flesh, ‘animal spirits’ were posited, superfine fluids which shuttled between the mind and the vitals, conveying messages and motion.

4. (slang, Ireland) Excellent.

Derived terms

• animalize
• animally
• animalness
• animal pole
• animal spirits
• animal–industrial complex
• humanimal
• nonanimal
• semianimal
• superanimal
• vegetoanimal

Translations

of animals

• Albanian: kafshë (sq)
• Asturian: animal (ast)
• Breton: loenel
• Bulgarian: животински (bg) m (životinski), необуздан (bg) m (neobuzdan)
• Catalan: animal (ca)
• Czech: zvířecí (cs)
• Danish: dyrisk
• Dutch: dierlijk (nl), dierlijke (nl)
• Finnish: eläin (fi)- (in compounds)
• French: animal (fr)
• Galician: animal (gl)
• German: tierisch (de)
• Greek: ζωώδης (el) (zoódis)
• Hebrew: חַיָּתִי m (ḥayyatí)
• Hindi: हैवानी (hi) (haivānī)
• Hungarian: állati (hu)
• Icelandic: dýrslegur
• Ido: animala (io), animalala (io)
• Indonesian: binatang (id), hewan (id), satwa (id)
• Interlingua: animal
• Irish: ainmhíoch
• Italian: animale (it)
• Japanese: 生き物の (ikimono no)
• Kabuverdianu: limária, bitxu
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: حەیوانی (ḧeywanî)

  Northern Kurdish: ajal (ku)

• Latin: animalis (la)
• Latvian: dzīvnieka (lv), dzīvniecisks
• Macedonian: живо́тински (živótinski)
• Malay:

  Jawi: بيناتڠ (ms), حيوان (ms), ستوا (ms)

  Rumi: binatang (ms), haiwan (ms), satwa (ms)

• Middle English: bestial
• Norwegian: dyrisk

  Bokmål: animalsk

  Nynorsk: animalsk

• Old English: dēoren
• Persian: حیوانی (fa) (heyvâni)
• Polish: zwierzęcy (pl)
• Portuguese: animal (pt)
• Romanian: animal (ro), animalic (ro)
• Russian: звери́ный (ru) m (zverínyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: анималан, животињски

  Latin: animalan (sh), životinjski (sh)

• Slovak: zvierací m
• Slovene: živálski
• Spanish: animal (es)
• Swahili: kinyama (sw), mifugo (sw)
• Swedish: djurisk (sv)
• Tagalog: hayop (tl)
• Turkish: hayvansal (tr), hayvanca (tr), hayvanî
• Zazaki: heywani

unhindered by social codes

• Bulgarian: животински (bg) n pl (životinski)
• Catalan: animal (ca)
• Finnish: eläimellinen (fi)
• Galician: animal (gl)
• Greek: άγριος (el) (ágrios)
• Hebrew: חַיָּתִי m (ḥayyatí), בַּהֲמִי m (behemí)
• Icelandic: dýrslegur
• Irish: ainmhíoch
• Italian: animale (it)
• Latvian: dzīvniecisks
• Macedonian: живо́тински (živótinski)
• Portuguese: animal (pt)
• Romanian: sălbatic (ro)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: анималан, животињски

  Latin: animalan (sh), životinjski (sh)

• Spanish: animal (es)
• Swahili: kinyama (sw), mifugo (sw)
• Turkish: hayvanî, hayvanca (tr)

of soul

• Finnish: animaalinen, sielullinen (fi)
• Hungarian: lelki (hu)
• Italian: animale (it)
• Macedonian: ду́шевен (dúševen)
• Middle English: animal
• Romanian: sufletesc (ro)

See also

• Wiktionary appendix of terms relating to animals

Further reading

• animal on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “animal”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “animal”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• animal in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• animal in Britannica Dictionary
• animal in Ozdic collocation dictionary
• animal in WordReference English Collocations

Anagrams

• maalin, Almain, lamian, aminal, Manila, lamina, al-Amin, Milana, Alamin, almain, Malian, manila

Asturian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin animal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aniˈmal/ [a.niˈmal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: a‧ni‧mal

Adjective

animal (epicene, plural animales)

1. animal

Noun

animal m (plural animales)

1. animal

Further reading

• García Arias, Xosé Lluis (2002–2004), “animal”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (overall work in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
• “animal”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1st edition, Academy of the Asturian Language [Asturian: Academia de la Llingua Asturiana], 2000, →ISBN

Catacao

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish animal (“animal”).

Noun

animal

1. animal

References

• Urban, Matthias (2019), “The Tallán languages”, in Lost languages of the Peruvian north coast (Estudios Indiana)‎^[4], Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 73–96

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin animal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [ə.niˈmal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [a.niˈmal]

• Audio (Valencia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Adjective

animal m or f (masculine and feminine plural animals)

1. animal

Noun

animal m (plural animals)

1. animal

Derived terms

• animalada
• animalitzar (“to animalize”)

Further reading

• “animal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “animal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “animal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “animal”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish animal, from Latin animal, a nominal use of an adjective from animale, neuter of animālis, from anima (“breath, spirit”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔaniˈmal/ [ʔa.n̪iˈmal̪]
• Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Noun

animál

1. animal
2. (derogatory) rascal

   Synonym: banyaga

3. (sometimes humorous) a crazy person

Adjective

animál

1. (sometimes humorous) crazy
2. contemptible, deserving contempt
3. ruthless; without pity or compassion; cruel, pitiless

Interjection

animál

1. (vulgar) used as an expression of disgust, anger, etc.

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish animal (“animal”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔaniˈmal/ [ʔa.ni.ˈmal]
• Rhymes: -al, -mal
• Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Noun

animál

1. animal

Colán

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish animal (“animal”).

Noun

animal

1. animal

References

• Urban, Matthias (2019), “The Tallán languages”, in Lost languages of the Peruvian north coast (Estudios Indiana)‎^[5], Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 73–96

Culli

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish animal (“animal”).

Noun

animal

1. animal

References

• Martínez de Compañón, Baltasar Jaime (1782–1785), “PLAN que contiene 43. vozes Castellanas traducidas ãlas õcho lenguas que hablan los Yndios de la costa, Sierras, y Montañas del Obp̃do. de Trugillo del Perù”, in Trujillo del Perú en el siglo XVIII, Madrid

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin animal. Compare the archaic inherited doublet aumaille and its variant armaille, both from the Latin neuter plural animālia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ni.mal/

• (un animal):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Paris)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Grenoble)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Hérault)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Saint-Étienne)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Massy)):

  (file)

• Homophones: animale, animales

Noun

animal m (plural animaux)

1. animal

   Synonyms: bête, bestiole

Derived terms

• animal de compagnie
• animal domestique
• animalcule
  • animalculisme
  • animalculiste
• animalerie
• animalier
• droits des animaux
• reine des animaux
• roi des animaux

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: animal, ⇒ zannimo
• ⇒ Mauritian Creole: zanimo
• ⇒ Réunion Creole French: zanimo

Adjective

animal (feminine animale, masculine plural animaux, feminine plural animales)

1. animal

   Synonym: bestial

   Antonym: végétal

Derived terms

• animalement
• animalité
• règne animal

Further reading

• “animal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• lamina

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos

Proto-Italic *anamos

Latin animus

Latin anima

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin animālisnom.

Latin animallbor.

Galician animal

Learned borrowing from Latin animal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aniˈmal/ [a.nĩˈmɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Adjective

animal m or f (plural animais)

1. animal

Noun

animal m (plural animais)

1. animal

Further reading

• “animal”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “animal”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French animal, from Latin animal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ni.mal/

Noun

animal

1. animal

   Synonym: zannimo

References

• Targète, Jean; Urciolo, Raphael (1993), Haitian Creole-English Dictionary‎^[6], Dunwoody Press, →ISBN, page 9

Ilocano

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos

Proto-Italic *anamos

Latin animus

Latin anima

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin animālisnom.

Latin animallbor.

Old Spanish animal

Spanish animalbor.

Ilocano animal

Borrowed from Spanish animal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔaniˈmal/ [ʔɐ.niˈmal]
• Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Noun

animál

1. animal

   Synonym: ayup

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.niˈmal/

Noun

animal (plural animales)

1. animal

Kabuverdianu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos

Proto-Italic *anamos

Latin animus

Latin anima

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin animālisnom.

Latin animallbor.

Portuguese animalder.

Kabuverdianu animal

Derived from Portuguese animal.

Noun

animal

1. beast
2. animal

Kapampangan

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos

Proto-Italic *anamos

Latin animus

Latin anima

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin animālisnom.

Latin animallbor.

Old Spanish animal

Spanish animalbor.

Kapampangan animal

Borrowed from Spanish animal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ənɪˈmal/ [ə.nɪˈmal]
• Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Noun

animal

1. animal

   Synonym: ayup

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos

Proto-Italic *anamos

Latin animus

Latin anima

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin animālisnom.

Latin animāl

Substantivation of apocopated animāle, nominative neuter singular of animālis (“living”). See -al.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈa.nɪ.maɫ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈaː.ni.mal]

Noun

animal n (genitive animālis); third declension

1. animal

   Synonym: bestia

2. living creature

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, pure i-stem, ablative singular in -ī or occasionally -e).

	singular	plural
nominative	animal	animālia
genitive	animālis	animālium
dative	animālī	animālibus
accusative	animal	animālia
ablative	animālī animāle	animālibus
vocative	animal	animālia

Related terms

• anima
• animālis
• animātiō
• animātus
• animō
• animula
• animus

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: nãmalj, nãmaljiu
  • Megleno-Romanian: nămal'
  • Romanian: nămaie
• Corsican: animale
• Dalmatian: animuol, animul
• Franco-Provençal: armalye
• Old French: almaille
  • Middle French: almaille
    • French: aumaille, armaille
• Friulian: nemâl
• Italian: animale
  • → Maltese: annimal
• Old Galician-Portuguese: almallo
  • Galician: almallo
  • Portuguese: almalho, alimanha, alimária
• Romagnol: animêl
• Sicilian: armali, armalu
• Spanish: alimaña, almaje
• Tarantino: anemale
• Venetan: animal, anemal

Borrowings:

• → Aragonese: animal
• → Asturian: animal
• → Basque: animalia
• → Proto-Brythonic: *anɨβ̃ėl
  • Breton: aneval
  • Middle Cornish: enevalles pl
    • Cornish: eneval
  • Middle Welsh: anyueyl
    • Welsh: anifail
• → Catalan: animal
• → Franco-Provençal: animal
• → Friulian: animâl
• → Galician: animal
• → Ido: animalo (also from various others)
• → Interlingua: animal
• → Mirandese: animal
• → Occitan: animal
• → Old French: animal
  • Middle French: animal
    • French: animal
      • Haitian Creole: animal
      • → Romanian: animal
  • → Middle English: animal, animale
    • English: animal
      • → Cebuano: animal
      • → Esperanto: animalo (also from French)
      • → Tok Pisin: animal
    • Scots: ainimal
  • Norman: animâ (France), annima (Jersey)
• → Portuguese: animal
  • Kabuverdianu: animal
  • Papiamentu: animal
• → Romansh: animal
• → Spanish: animal

References

• “animal”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “animal”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "animal", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “animal”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[7], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • animate and inanimate nature: animata (animalia) inanimaque (not inanimata)
    
  • domestic animals: animalia quae nobiscum degunt (Plin. 8. 40)
    

Middle English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aniˈmaːl/, /aˈnimal/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French animal, from Latin animal.

Alternative forms

• animale

Noun

animal (plural animales)

1. An animal (considered to include humans)

Descendants

• English: animal (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: ainimal

References

• “animāl, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 16 January 2019.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin animālis.

Alternative forms

• animale, animall, anymal, anymall

Adjective

animal

1. Related to the soul or spirit of a living being (i.e. sentience or sapience)

Descendants

• English: animal

References

• “animāl, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 16 January 2019.

Middle French

Noun

animal m (plural animaux or animaulx)

1. animal

   Synonym: beste

Papiamentu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos

Proto-Italic *anamos

Latin animus

Latin anima

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin animālisnom.

Latin animallbor.

Portuguese animalder.

▲

Latin animallbor.

Old Spanish animal

Spanish animalder.

Papiamentu animal

Derived from Portuguese animal and Spanish animal.

Noun

animal

1. beast
2. animal

Portuguese

FWOTD – 4 October 2020

Picture dictionary

animal

organismo

---

mamífero

peixe

anfíbio

réptil

ave

inseto

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos

Proto-Italic *anamos

Latin animus

Latin anima

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin animālisnom.

Latin animallbor.

Portuguese animal

Learned borrowing from Latin animal. Doublet of alimária.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.niˈmaw/ [a.niˈmaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.niˈmal/ [ɐ.niˈmaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.niˈmal/ [ɐ.niˈmaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.niˈma.li/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Adjective

animal m or f (plural animais, comparable, comparative mais animal, superlative o mais animal or animalíssimo)

1. (biology) animal (relating to animals)
   • 2000, Julio S. Inglez de Sousa et al., Enciclopédia agrícola brasileira: E-H, Editora da Universidade de São Paulo, page 225:

     Em anatomia animal o termo é de uso muito comum, […]

     The term is very commonly used in animal anatomy, […]

2. (derogatory, of a person) brute (senseless, unreasoning)
3. (Brazil, colloquial) cool; awesome
   • 2015, Juliana Rosenthal K., Save the Day, Buqui, page 52:

     É, tava animal mesmo — Bia mal consegue falar.

     Yeah, it really was wild — Bia can barely speak.

Noun

animal m (plural animais)

1. (biology) animal (any member of the kingdom Animalia)
   • 2010, João José da Costa, Fábulas do jeito que só vovô sabia contar, Clube de Autores, page 38:

     Quando a flor do abacateiro recebe o pólen de outra flor de abacateiro trazido pelas abelhas, beija-flores, borboletas e outros animais, ela fica polinizada e começa a gerar um fruto, que é o abacate.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2020, Petrônio Braz, Léxico dos Gerais, Chiado Books, page 481:

     Primatas — Animais mamíferos, da ordem Primata, que compreende os macacos, antropóides e o homem.

     Primates — Mammalian animals, of the order Primata, which comprises monkeys/apes, anthropoids and man.

2. (non-scientific usage) animal (an animal other than a human, especially a vertebrate)
   • 2007, Daniela Ikawa, Valor humano intrínseco e redistribuição social in 2007, Flávia Piovesan, Daniela Ikawa, Direitos Humanos: Fundamento, Proteção e Implementação, volume 2, Juruá Editora, page 44:

     Separar os dois grupos — humanos e animais requereria, dentro dos limites da teoria relativa à dor e ao sofrimento, […]

     Separating the two groups — humans and animals would require, within the limits of the theory relating to pain and suffering, […]

   Synonyms: besta, bicho

3. (colloquial) twat; idiot; moron
   • 1979, Wilson Bacelar de Oliveira, Os meus fantasmas, Editora Comunicação, page 490:

     Escute aqui, seu animal, então você brigou com o companheiro?

     Listen up, you dumbass, so you fought with [your] mate?

   Synonyms: idiota, retardado, burro, imbecil, débil mental, besta

4. (colloquial) beast (a cruel person)
   • 2007, Creso Balduíno, O verso do ser, Editora Revan, page 170:

     Josuel é um animal repulsivo, uma besta humana.

     Josuel is a repulsive beast, a human beast.

   Synonym: monstro

Derived terms

• animal de criação
• animal de estimação
• animal doméstico
• animal selvagem
• animalizar
• animalzão
• animalzinho

Further reading

• “animal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “animal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Alternative forms

• анимал (animal) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos

Proto-Italic *anamos

Latin animus

Latin anima

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin animālisnom.

Latin animal

French animalbor.

Romanian animal

Borrowed from French animal, from Latin animal. Doublet of nămaie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.niˈmal/

• Audio (female voice):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: a‧ni‧mal

Adjective

animal m or n (feminine singular animală, masculine plural animali, feminine/neuter plural animale)

1. animal, animalistic
2. brutal

Declension

Declension of animal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	animal		animală	animali	animale
	definite	animalul		animala	animalii	animalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	animal		animale	animali	animale
	definite	animalului		animalei	animalilor	animalelor

Adverb

animal

1. brutally

Noun

animal n (plural animale)

1. animal

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	animal	animalul	animale	animalele
genitive-dative	animal	animalului	animale	animalelor
vocative	animalule		animalelor

Further reading

• “animal”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Romansh

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin animal.

Noun

animal m (plural animals)

1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Vallader) animal

Synonyms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran) biestg
• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sutsilvan) bestga
• (Sursilvan) tier, bestia
• (Puter, Vallader) bes-cha

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos

Proto-Italic *anamos

Latin animus

Latin anima

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin animālisnom.

Latin animallbor.

Old Spanish animal

Spanish animal

Inherited from Old Spanish animal, a learned borrowing from Latin animal. Doublet of alimaña, which was inherited.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aniˈmal/ [a.niˈmal]

• Audio (Castellón, Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: a‧ni‧mal

Adjective

animal m or f (masculine and feminine plural animales)

1. animal

Noun

animal m (plural animales)

1. (biology) animal

Derived terms

• animal de carga
• animal de compañía
• animal de costumbres
• animal doméstico
• animal salvaje
• animal terrestre
• animalada
• animalero
• animalesco
• animalillo
• animalismo
• animalista
• animalístico
• animalito
• animalizar
• animalmente
• animalucho
• derechos de los animales
• protectora de animales

Related terms

• animálculo
• animalidad

Further reading

• “animal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Anagrams

• lámina, lamina

Tagalog

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos

Proto-Italic *anamos

Latin animus

Latin anima

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin animālisnom.

Latin animallbor.

Old Spanish animal

Spanish animalbor.

Tagalog animal

Borrowed from Spanish animal, from Old Spanish animal, a learned borrowing from Latin animal, a nominalization of animālis, from anima + -ālis.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔaniˈmal/ [ʔɐ.n̪ɪˈmal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: a‧ni‧mal

Noun

animál (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜈᜒᜋᜎ᜔)

1. beast; brute; creature

   Synonyms: halimaw, hayop

2. (derogatory) brutish person; inhuman person

   Synonyms: hayop, bruto, bestiya

Derived terms

• kaanimalan
• pagkaanimal

Related terms

• alma
• anima
• animadbersiyon
• animado
• animador
• animas
• animasyon
• anime
• animismo
• animista
• animo
• animosidad
• des-animado
• des-animo
• inanimado

Interjection

animál (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜈᜒᜋᜎ᜔)

1. animal!

   Synonym: hayop

Anagrams

• alamin, Manila

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English animal. Cognate with Bislama anamol, animol and Pijin animol.

Noun

animal

1. animal (any non-human creature in the kingdom Animalia)

   Synonym: abus

   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 1:25:

     God i kamapim ol kain kain animal bilong ples na ol bikpela na liklik animal bilong bus. God i lukim olgeta dispela samting i gutpela, na em i amamas.

     →New International Version translation

Derived terms

• dokta bilong ol animal (“veterinarian”)