insectivore
UK /ɪnˈsɛktəˌvɔː/ · US /ɪnˈsɛktəˌvɔɹ/ noun
Forms insectivores
- noun Insect-eating animal or plant. “An anteater is an insectivore with a long sticky tongue to catch its prey.”
- noun (zoology, dated) mammal of the now abandoned order Insectivora.
Synonyms
Etymology
From French insectivore. In the zoological sense, coined by English philosopher and historian of science William Whewell in 1840 as an adaptation of Cuvier's coinage, French insectivore. The French terms reflect scientific New Latin origins. By surface analysis, insect + -i- + -vore.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One of the Insectivora.
Etymology [F.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “insectivore”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details