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 |
|---|---|
| bruchidae | family of seed beetles |
| bubonidae | family of horned owls (Bubo) |
| buccinae | subfamily of whelks |
| bucconinae | subfamily of puffbirds |
| bucerotes | group of hornbills |
| bucerotinae | subfamily of hornbills |
| bucorvinae | subfamily of ground hornbills |
| buettneriaceae | former plant family (Buettneria) |
| bulbilis | grass genus, buffalo grass |
| bulbocodium | genus of bulbous plants |
| bulimus | genus of land snails |
| bunodonta | division of bunodont mammals |
| bunomastodontidae | family of mastodons |
| burkei | Latin specific epithet honoring Burke |
| buxbaumiaceae | family of mosses |
| byblidaceae | family of carnivorous plants |
| cactales | order of cactus plants |
| calamariaceae | family of fossil calamite plants |
| calamariales | order of fossil calamite plants |
| calamodendron | fossil genus of calamite plants |
| calamospermae | plant group, the reed-seeded gymnosperms |
| calamostachys | fossil genus of calamite cones |
| calandridae | family of weevils |
| calandrinae | subfamily of larks |
| calimeris | genus of asters, now Kalimeris |
| callorhynchidae | family of chimaeroid fishes |
| callorhynchus | genus of elephant fishes |
| calocarpum | genus of sapote trees |
| calycophora | group of calycophoran siphonophores |
| calycozoa | class of stalked jellyfishes |
| calypterae | group of calyptrate flies |
| calyptoblastea | order of hydroids |
| cameloidea | superfamily of camels |
| camelopardidae | giraffe family |
| camerinidae | family of nummulitic foraminifers |
| campanulariae | group of campanularian hydroids |
| campanularidae | family of hydroids |
| campanulatae | plant group, the bellflower order |
| campodeidae | family of dipluran insects |
| campyloneuron | genus of ferns |
| candollea | plant genus named for de Candolle |
| cannabinaceae | former family of hemp plants |
| capitoninae | subfamily of barbets |
| carapidae | family of pearlfishes |
| carboxydomonas | genus of carbon-monoxide bacteria |
| carchariidae | family of sand sharks |
| cardiacea | group of cockles |
| cardiocarpum | genus of fossil seeds |
| carduaceae | thistle family of composites |
| carettochelydidae | family of pig-nosed turtles |
| cariacus | genus of American deer |
| caridomorpha | group of caridean shrimps |
| cariniana | genus of South American trees |
| caripeta | genus of geometrid moths |
| carphiophiops | genus of small burrowing snakes |
| carpoidea | extinct class of echinoderms |
| carpophaga | genus of fruit pigeons |
| caryocaraceae | family of tropical American trees |
| cassicus | genus of American cacique birds |
| cassididae | family of helmet shells |
| cassidinae | subfamily of tortoise beetles |
| cassidulina | genus of foraminifera |
| cassiduloidea | order of irregular sea urchins |
| cassythaceae | family of the laurel dodders |
| castilloa | genus of Central American rubber trees |
| castoroides | genus of giant fossil beavers |
| casuarinales | order containing the Casuarinaceae |
| catarrhina | suborder of Old World monkeys |
| catesbeiana | specific epithet, as in Rana catesbeiana |
| cathartae | group of New World vultures |
| cathartides | group of vultures, Cathartides |
| cathartolinum | genus of flaxes, Cathartolinum |
| catodon | genus of sperm whales, Catodon |
| caulerpaceae | family of green algae, Caulerpaceae |
| caulopteris | genus of fossil tree ferns |
| cavidae | family of cavies and guinea pigs |
| cecomorphae | group of birds including gulls and waders |
| celeomorphae | group of birds including woodpeckers |
| cellulomonadeae | bacterial tribe Cellulomonadeae |
| celsia | genus of mullein-like plants, Celsia |
| centetes | genus of tenrecs, Centetes |
| centetidae | family of tenrecs |
| centraxonia | group of sponges with a central axis |
| centrechinoida | order of regular sea urchins |
| centricae | group of centric diatoms |
| centriscidae | family of shrimpfishes, Centriscidae |
| cephalacanthidae | family of flying gurnards |
| cephalata | division of mollusks having a distinct head |
| cephalobranchiata | group of worms with gills on the head |
| cephalochorda | group containing the lancelets |
| cephalodiscida | group of pterobranchs, Cephalodiscida |
| cephalosporium | genus of fungi, Cephalosporium |
| cephalotaceae | family of the Albany pitcher plant |
| ceratitidae | family of fruit flies; also of ammonites |
| ceratitoidea | superfamily of ceratite ammonoids |
| ceratobatrachinae | subfamily of frogs, Ceratobatrachinae |
| ceratocystis | genus of ascomycete fungi |
| ceratodidae | family of lungfishes, Ceratodidae |
| ceratodontidae | family of lungfishes, Ceratodontidae |
| ceratophrys | genus of horned frogs |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
