mammal

English

Etymology

Modern Latin Mammalia, coined 1758 by Linnaeus for the class of mammals, from neuter plural of Late Latin mammalis (of the breast), from Latin mamma (breast), perhaps cognate with mamma (mother).

Pronunciation

  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmæməl/
  • Hyphenation: mam‧mal
  • (file)

Noun

mammal (plural mammals)

  1. An animal of the class Mammalia, characterized by being warm-blooded, having hair and feeding milk to its young.
  2. (paleontology) A vertebrate with three bones in the inner ear and one in the jaw.

Hyponyms

  • See also Thesaurus:mammal

Derived terms


Translations

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