Real Words Without Definition
We're sure about this one.
The Latin name of a group of plants or animals.
The naming system runs on endings, which is why there are so many. -idae is an animal family, -aceae a plant family, -inae a subfamily, -ales an order. achetidae is the crickets, acraeinae is a group of butterflies, agalenidae is the funnel-weaver spiders.
They are capitalised in real use but arrive here in lower case like everything else.
2,849 words · sorted A to Z · each with a line on why it is here
Matches the word itself, not the note beside it. Case does not matter.
| Word, sorted Z to A | What it names |
|---|---|
| ancylostomum | hookworm genus Ancylostoma |
| anemonella | genus including rue anemone |
| anguillulidae | family of nematode worms |
| anguinidae | family of slowworm lizards |
| anhalonium | cactus genus, the peyote |
| aniellidae | family of legless lizards |
| animalivora | group of animal-eating mammals |
| anisodactyla | group of unequal-toed mammals |
| anisodactyli | group of perching birds |
| anisomyodi | suborder of passerine birds |
| anisopoda | order of crustaceans |
| anisostichus | genus of bignoniaceous vines (crossvine) |
| annelides | older name of the annelid worms |
| annellata | old group name for annelid worms |
| anneslia | genus of leguminous shrubs |
| anniellidae | family of legless lizards |
| annuloida | old division of ringed invertebrates |
| annulosa | old division of segmented animals |
| anodendron | genus of apocynaceous climbers |
| anogra | genus split from the evening primroses |
| anomalogonatae | division of birds by thigh muscles |
| anomatheca | genus of iridaceous plants |
| anomiacea | superfamily of bivalve mollusks |
| anomodontia | order of fossil reptiles |
| anophelinae | subfamily of malarial mosquitoes |
| anoplanthus | genus of broomrape-family plants |
| anoplonemertini | group of unarmed nemertean worms |
| anoplotheriidae | family of extinct ungulates |
| antennariidae | family of frogfishes |
| antennarius | genus of frogfishes |
| anthicidae | family of ant-like flower beetles |
| anthinae | subfamily of pipits |
| antholyza | genus of iridaceous plants |
| anthomedusae | order of hydrozoan jellyfishes |
| anthophoridae | family of digger bees |
| anthophyta | division of flowering plants |
| anthracomartus | genus of fossil arachnids |
| anthracotheriidae | family of extinct artiodactyls |
| anthropodus | genus of fossil ape remains |
| anthropomorphidae | old family name for the anthropoid apes |
| antiarcha | order of placoderm fishes (Antiarcha) |
| antipathida | order of black corals (Antipathida) |
| aotes | genus of South American night monkeys |
| apathus | genus of parasitic (cuckoo) bumblebees |
| aphoruridae | family of springtails (Collembola) |
| apioceridae | family of flower-loving flies |
| apiosoma | genus of ciliate protozoans |
| aplacentaria | group of non-placental mammals |
| aplanobacter | genus of plant-pathogenic bacteria |
| apneumona | zoological group of lungless animals |
| aporobranchia | group of gastropod molluscs |
| aporobranchiata | group of gastropod molluscs |
| appendiculariidae | family of larvacean tunicates |
| apterygogenea | group of primitively wingless insects |
| araliaephyllum | fossil genus of aralia-like leaves |
| araliophyllum | form-genus of fossil Aralia-like leaves |
| araneiformia | group of spider-like arachnids |
| arcacea | superfamily of ark-shell bivalves |
| archaeocyathidae | family of Cambrian archaeocyathids |
| archaeocyathus | genus of Cambrian archaeocyathids |
| archaeostomata | animals retaining the blastopore |
| archaeotherium | genus of fossil entelodont swine |
| archangelica | genus of umbellifers, garden angelica |
| archegoniata | plants bearing archegonia |
| archibuteo | genus of rough-legged hawks |
| archichlamydeae | subclass of dicotyledons |
| archispermae | primitive gymnosperm group |
| arcifera | division of arciferal frogs |
| arctisca | group comprising the tardigrades |
| arctomys | genus of marmots |
| ardisiaceae | plant family based on Ardisia |
| argiopidae | family of orb-weaving spiders |
| argiopoidea | superfamily of orb-weaving spiders |
| armadillididae | family of pill woodlice |
| arthrobacterium | genus of rod-and-coccus bacteria |
| arthrodonteae | group of mosses with jointed peristome teeth |
| arthrogastra | division of arachnids with segmented abdomen |
| arthropomata | order of articulate brachiopods |
| arthrozoa | division of jointed animals, Articulata |
| artocarpaceae | family of breadfruit plants |
| asaraceae | family of plants based on Asarum |
| ascalabota | group of geckos and allied lizards |
| ascaridae | family of parasitic nematode worms |
| ascidiae | group name for the tunicates |
| ascidioida | group of tunicates |
| ascidioidea | group of tunicates |
| ascidiozoa | the ascidians as a group |
| ascolichenes | lichens whose fungus bears asci |
| asconia | group of calcareous sponges of ascon type |
| ascothoracica | order of parasitic crustaceans |
| asiphonogama | plants lacking a pollen tube |
| aspalax | Aspalax, old genus of mole-rats |
| aspergillales | order of ascomycete fungi |
| asperifoliae | old order of rough-leaved plants, Boraginaceae |
| aspidiaria | fossil genus of lepidodendroid bark |
| aspidobranchiata | order of shield-gilled gastropods |
| aspidocephali | group of shield-headed fossil fishes |
| aspidochirota | order of holothurians, sea cucumbers |
| aspidoganoidei | group of shielded ganoid fishes |
| asplenieae | tribe of spleenwort ferns |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
