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 |
|---|---|
| chrysamphora | genus of pitcher plants, Darlingtonia |
| chrysidella | genus of symbiotic yellow algae |
| chrysomonadales | order of golden-brown algae |
| chrysomonadina | group of golden flagellates |
| chrysomyia | genus of blowflies |
| chrysophlyctis | fungus genus causing potato wart |
| chrysotis | genus of Amazon parrots |
| chytridiaceae | family of chytrid fungi |
| chytridiales | order of chytrid fungi |
| cichoriaceae | chicory group of composite plants |
| cidaridae | family of sea urchins |
| ciliella | genus name, diminutive in -ella |
| cilioflagellata | group of ciliated flagellates, dinoflagellates |
| cinclidotus | genus of mosses |
| cinura | order of bristletails, Thysanura |
| circaeaceae | family based on Circaea, enchanter's nightshade |
| cirratulidae | family of polychaete worms |
| cirrhopetalum | genus of orchids |
| cirrostomi | group comprising the lancelets |
| cistudo | genus of box tortoises |
| citellus | genus of ground squirrels |
| citigradae | group of running or wolf spiders |
| citromyces | genus of citric-acid moulds |
| cladodontidae | family of fossil sharks |
| cladoniaceae | family of cup lichens |
| cladoselachea | order of Devonian sharks |
| cladoselachidae | family of fossil sharks |
| cladothrix | genus of filamentous bacteria |
| clamatores | suborder of songless passerine birds |
| clathraceae | family of stinkhorn fungi |
| clathraria | genus of fossil cycad stems |
| clathrinidae | family of calcareous sponges |
| clausiliidae | family of door snails |
| cleistothecopsis | genus of fungi |
| clepsine | genus of leeches |
| cleridae | family of checkered beetles |
| clerodendron | genus of verbenaceous shrubs |
| clethraceae | the white-alder family |
| climaciaceae | family of mosses |
| clione | genus of pteropod sea butterflies |
| clisiocampa | genus of tent-caterpillar moths |
| clistogastra | division of Hymenoptera |
| clitia | genus of hydroid polyps (Clytia) |
| clonothrix | genus of iron bacteria |
| clubionidae | family of sac spiders |
| clupeodei | suborder of herring-like fishes (Clupeoidei) |
| clymenia | genus of ammonoid cephalopods |
| clypeastridea | group of sand-dollar echinoids |
| clypeastrina | group of sand-dollar echinoids |
| clypeastroidea | order of sand dollars |
| coccaceae | family of spherical bacteria |
| coccidiidea | group of sporozoan parasites |
| coccidiomorpha | group of coccidian protozoa |
| coccogonales | order of blue-green algae |
| coccogoneae | group of cyanophycean algae |
| coccolithophoridae | family of coccolith-bearing flagellates |
| coccygomorphae | group of cuckoo-like birds |
| cochlidiidae | family of slug-caterpillar moths |
| cochliodontidae | family of fossil chimaeroid fishes |
| cochylis | genus of tortricid moths |
| codiales | order of green algae (Codium) |
| coelacanthini | suborder of crossopterygian fishes |
| coelata | zoological group of hollow-bodied forms |
| coelelminthes | group of nemathelminth worms |
| coendidae | family of prehensile-tailed porcupines (Coendou) |
| coleochaete | genus of green algae |
| colocephali | group of eel-like fishes, the morays |
| colocola | specific name of the colocolo wildcat |
| colubriformes | group of colubrid snakes |
| colubriformia | suborder of colubrine snakes |
| columelliaceae | family of flowering plants |
| columnea | genus of tropical gesneriad plants |
| colymbidae | family of divers and grebes |
| colymbriformes | order of divers and grebes |
| compsothlypidae | family of New World warblers |
| conchostraca | order of clam shrimps |
| condylopoda | old name for the Arthropoda |
| confervaceae | family of green algae |
| confervales | order of green algae |
| confervoideae | algal group Confervoideae |
| coniomycetes | class of dust-spored fungi |
| conirostres | group of cone-billed birds |
| conjugata | Conjugatae, the conjugating algae |
| conjugatae | group of conjugating green algae |
| connaraceae | family of tropical woody plants |
| conopidae | family of thick-headed flies |
| conorhinus | genus of assassin bugs |
| conularia | genus of extinct conulariid fossils |
| copeia | genus named for the naturalist E. D. Cope |
| copelata | order of tunicates, the appendicularians |
| copelatae | Latin group name of the Copelata tunicates |
| copeognatha | insect order of booklice (Psocoptera) |
| coprides | group of dung beetles based on Copris |
| coraciae | group of birds, the rollers |
| coracii | suborder of birds including the rollers |
| coracomorphae | group of passerine birds |
| corallidae | family of corals, the Coralliidae |
| coralligena | group of coral-forming animals |
| cordaitaceae | family of fossil gymnosperms |
| cordaitales | order of fossil gymnosperms |
The other lists filed alongside this one.
