Meanings
carnivore1
nouncarnivore (plural carnivores)
plural carnivores
- biologyA mammal belonging to the order Carnivora.
The panda and the panther are both carnivores.
Synonyms: carnivoran
- informalA person who is not a vegetarian.
Well, she has now gone / From this unhappy planet / With all the carnivores / And the destructors on it
1990, Morrissey, “Ouija Board, Ouija Board”, in Bona DragSynonyms: meateater, meatarian, meatatarian, kreophagist, nonvegetarian, bloodmouth
- informalA follower of the carnivore diet.
Carnivore2
proper noun
- a computer system designed by the FBI to monitor e-mail and electronic communications
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn organism that feeds chiefly on animals; an animal that feeds on meat as the main part of its diet.
nounA mammal belonging to the order Carnivora.
Similar
nounA person who is not a vegetarian.
Also see
Origin
- Frenchcarnivore
- Latincarnivorus
- Frenchcarnivore
- Englishcarnivore
Borrowed from French carnivore, from Latin carnivorus. In the zoological sense, coined by William Whewell in 1840 as an adaptation of Cuvier's coinage, French carnivore.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans karnivoor, vleiseter
- karnivoormeat-eating animal
- vleisetermeat-eating animal
Arabic لَاحِم
- لَاحِم (lāḥim)meat-eating animal
Basque haragijale, karniboro
- haragijalemeat-eating animal
- karniboromeat-eating animal
Bulgarian месояден
- месояден (mesojaden)meat-eating animal
Catalan carnívor, carnívor
- carnívormammal of the order Carnivora
- carnívormeat-eating animal
Chinese Mandarin 食肉動物 /食肉动物
- 食肉動物 /食肉动物 (shíròu dòngwù)meat-eating animal
Czech šelmy, masožravec
- šelmymammal of the order Carnivora
- masožravecmeat-eating animal
Danish rovdyr, kødæder
- rovdyrmammal of the order Carnivora
- kødædermeat-eating animal
- rovdyrmeat-eating animal
Dutch roofdier, vleeseter
- roofdiermammal of the order Carnivora
- vleeseterperson who is not a vegetarian
- carnivoormeat-eating animal
- vleesetermeat-eating animal
Esperanto karnomanĝulo, karnovorulo
- karnomanĝulomeat-eating animal
- karnovorulomeat-eating animal
Estonian lihasööja
- lihasööjameat-eating animal
Finnish petoeläin, lihansyöjä
- petoeläinmammal of the order Carnivora
- lihansyöjämeat-eating animal
French carnivore
- carnivoremeat-eating animal
German Fleischfresser, Fleischesser
- Fleischfressermammal of the order Carnivora
- Fleischesserperson who is not a vegetarian
- Fleischesserinperson who is not a vegetarian
- Fleischfressermeat-eating animal
Greek σαρκοφάγος, σαρκοβόρος
- σαρκοφάγος (sarkofágos)meat-eating animal
- σαρκοβόρος (sarkovóros)meat-eating animal
Hebrew טוֹרֵף, בִּשְׂרוֹנִי
- טוֹרֵף (toréf)mammal of the order Carnivora
- בִּשְׂרוֹנִי (bisroní)person who is not a vegetarian
- טוֹרֵף (toréf)meat-eating animal
Hindi मांसाहारी, माँसाहारी
- मांसाहारी (mānsāhārī)person who is not a vegetarian
- माँसाहारी (mā̃sāhārī)person who is not a vegetarian
- मांसाहारी (mānsāhārī)meat-eating animal
- माँसाहारी (mā̃sāhārī)meat-eating animal
Hungarian húsevő
- húsevőmeat-eating animal
Icelandic kjötæta
- kjötætameat-eating animal
Indonesian pemakan daging, karnivor
- pemakan dagingmeat-eating animal
- karnivormeat-eating animal
Italian carnivoro
- carnivoromeat-eating animal
Japanese 食肉類, 肉食動物
- 食肉類 (shokunikurui)mammal of the order Carnivora
- 肉食動物 (nikushoku dōbutsu)meat-eating animal
Korean 육식동물
- 육식동물 (yuksikdongmul)meat-eating animal
Latin carnivorum
- carnivorummeat-eating animal
Latvian gaļēdājs, gaļēdāja
- gaļēdājsmeat-eating animal
- gaļēdājameat-eating animal
Lithuanian mėsėdis
- mėsėdismeat-eating animal
Malay binatang maging, haiwan maging
- binatang magingmeat-eating animal
- haiwan magingmeat-eating animal
- haiwan karnivormeat-eating animal
- karnivormeat-eating animal
Māori kaikiko
- kaikikomeat-eating animal
Norwegian Bokmål kjøtteter
- kjøttetermeat-eating animal
Persian گوشتخوار
- گوشتخوار (gušt-xvâr)meat-eating animal
Polish mięsożerca, mięsożerca
- mięsożercamammal of the order Carnivora
- mięsożercaperson who is not a vegetarian
- mięsożercameat-eating animal
- drapieżnikmeat-eating animal
Portuguese carnívoro
- carnívoromeat-eating animal
Russian хи́щник, плотоя́дное живо́тное
- хи́щник (xíščnik)meat-eating animal
- плотоя́дное живо́тное (plotojádnoje živótnoje)meat-eating animal
- мясое́д (mjasojéd)meat-eating animal
Scottish Gaelic feòil-itheadair
- feòil-itheadairmeat-eating animal
Slovak mäsožravec
- mäsožravecmeat-eating animal
Spanish carnívoro
- carnívoromeat-eating animal
Swahili mla-nyama
- mla-nyamameat-eating animal
Swedish rovdjur, köttätare
- rovdjurmammal of the order Carnivora
- köttätaremeat-eating animal
Tagalog lamankain
- lamankainmeat-eating animal
Tamil ஊனுண்ணி, ஊனுண்ணி
- ஊனுண்ணி (ūṉuṇṇi)mammal of the order Carnivora
- ஊனுண்ணி (ūṉuṇṇi)meat-eating animal
Thai สัตว์กินเนื้อ
- สัตว์กินเนื้อ (sàt-gin-nʉ́ʉa)meat-eating animal
Turkish etçil, etobur
- etçilmammal of the order Carnivora
- etoburmeat-eating animal
- etçilmeat-eating animal
Welsh cigysor, cigysydd
- cigysormeat-eating animal
- cigysyddmeat-eating animal
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
carnivore. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carnivore
MLA
“carnivore.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carnivore. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “carnivore,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carnivore.
Source: carnivore on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.