Carnivora

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An order of mammals characterized by specialized teeth for eating flesh, including cats, dogs, bears, seals, and weasels
2. A taxonomic group of mammals known for their predatory behavior and adaptations, featuring species like felines, canines, and pinnipeds
3. This classification comprises various meat-eating mammals distinguished by unique dental structures, such as those found in weasels, bears, and marine mammals

Etymology: Carnivora is Latin for "flesh-devourers," built from "caro" (genitive "carnis"), meaning flesh, and "vorare," to devour, the same verb behind English "voracious." The Latin word was used as a grouping name for the order of mammals that eat meat, and English took it over directly from that Latin form. Its name describes a diet rather than an anatomy, and it is the reason the group's members, from lions to otters, are lumped together despite very different lifestyles.

Synonyms: carnivores

Antonyms: herbivores