Etymology

mammal

mam·mal
M3A1M3M3A1L1

Today it means: 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. Full definition →

Latin mamma ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?
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The story

  1. Latinmamma
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  4. Latinmammālis
  5. Latinmamma
  6. English todaymammal

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).

Words from the same roots

Latinmamma all →

mammaamahmammiformmammo-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.