mammal
/ˈmæməl/ noun
Forms mammals
- noun A vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia, characterized by being warm-blooded, having fur or hair and producing milk with which to feed their young.
- noun (paleontology) A vertebrate with three bones in the inner ear and one in the jaw.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin mammal, coined 1758 by Linnaeus for the class of mammals, from Late Latin mammalis (“of the breast”), from Latin mamma (“breast”), perhaps cognate with mamma (mother).
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [L. mammalis belonging to the breast, fr. mamma the breast or pap: cf. F. mammal.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mammal”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details