fauna
/ˈfɔːnə/ noun, proper noun
Forms faunae faunas faunæ Fatua Fenta Fauna
- noun (uncountable) Animals considered as a group; especially those of a particular country, region, time, biological group, etc. “the flora and fauna”
- noun (countable) A particular group of animals as distinguished from another.
- noun (countable) A book cataloguing the animals of a country.
- proper noun (Roman mythology) The goddess of animals, nature, spring and fertility; she is also the consort of Faunus.
- proper noun A female given name from Latin.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from New Latin fauna, from Latin Fauna, sister of Faunus (“god of forests and herdsmen”); akin to Ancient Greek θαῦνον (thaûnon, “wild animal, beast”), θώς (thṓs, “jackal, wild dog; panther”), Phrygian δάος (dáos, “wolf”).
Some refer it to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₂w-, whence Ancient Greek θαῦνον (thaûnon, “beast”), Illyrian-related Daunus. Some refer it to faveō.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [NL.: cf. F. faune. See Faun.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fauna”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details