digitigrade

Etymology

From French digitigrade, from Latin digitus (“finger, toe, digit”) + gradus (“step; pace”); compare New Latin digitigradus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: dĭʹjĭtĭgrād', IPA^(key): /ˈdɪdʒɪtɪˌɡɹeɪd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪdʒətəɡɹeɪd/, /-ɾə/
• Hyphenation: di‧gi‧ti‧grade

Adjective

digitigrade (not comparable)

1. (zoology) Of an animal: walking on the toes, putting the weight of the body mainly on the ball of the foot, with the back of the foot, or heel, raised.
2. (zoology) Of feet or a manner of walking: of, resembling, or pertaining to that of a digitigrade animal.
3. (zoology, specifically) Belonging to the Digitigrada of the taxonomic order Carnivora.

Noun

digitigrade (plural digitigrades)

1. (zoology, chiefly in the plural) A digitigrade animal; an animal that walks on its toes, such as a cat or a dog.

Coordinate terms

• plantigrade
• unguligrade

References

• “digitigrade, a. and n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Further reading

• digitigrade on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Adjective

digitigrade (plural digitigrades)

1. digitigrade

Noun

digitigrade m (plural digitigrades)

1. digitigrade

Further reading

• “digitigrade” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Adjective

digitigrade

1. feminine plural of digitigrado

Adjective

digitigrāde

1. vocative masculine singular of digitigrādus