Meanings
nounherbivore (plural herbivores)
plural herbivores
- An organism that feeds chiefly on plants; an animal that feeds on herbage or vegetation as the main part of its diet.
It is unlikely that any member of the hominin clade was either an obligate herbivore or an obligate carnivore
2011, Bernard Wood, Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Human EvolutionSynonyms: phytophage, vegetarian, vegan
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn organism that feeds chiefly on plants; an animal that feeds on herbage or vegetation as the main part of its diet.
Similar
Also see
Origin
- Latinherbivorus
- Frenchherbivore
- Englishherbivore
From French herbivore, from Latin herbivorus. By surface analysis, herb (“herbage”) + -i- + -vore.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans herbivoor, planteter
- herbivoorplant-eating organism
- planteterplant-eating organism
Ancient Greek βοτόν
- βοτόν (botón)plant-eating organism
Arabic حَيَوَان عَاشِب
- حَيَوَان عَاشِب (ḥayawān ʕāšib)plant-eating organism
Basque belarjale
- belarjaleplant-eating organism
Bulgarian тревопасно животно
- тревопасно животно (trevopasno životno)plant-eating organism
Catalan herbívor
- herbívorplant-eating organism
Chinese Mandarin 食草動物 /食草动物, 植食性動物 /植食性动物
- 食草動物 /食草动物 (shícǎo dòngwù)plant-eating organism
- 植食性動物 /植食性动物 (zhíshíxìngdòngwù)plant-eating organism
Czech býložravec
- býložravecplant-eating organism
Danish planteæder
- planteæderplant-eating organism
Dutch herbivoor, planteneter
- herbivoorplant-eating organism
- planteneterplant-eating organism
Esperanto herbovorulo
- herbovoruloplant-eating organism
Finnish kasvinsyöjä
- kasvinsyöjäplant-eating organism
French herbivore
- herbivoreplant-eating organism
German Pflanzenfresser
- Pflanzenfresserplant-eating organism
Greek φυτοφάγος
- φυτοφάγος (fytofágos)plant-eating organism
Hebrew אוכל צמחים
- אוכל צמחים (okhél tsmakhím)plant-eating organism
Hindi शाकाहारी
- शाकाहारी (śākāhārī)plant-eating organism
Hungarian növényevő
- növényevőplant-eating organism
Indonesian herbivor
- herbivorplant-eating organism
Italian erbivoro
- erbivoroplant-eating organism
Japanese 草食動物
- 草食動物 (sōshoku dōbutsu)plant-eating organism
Korean 초식동물
- 초식동물 (chosikdongmul)plant-eating organism
Latin herbivorum
- herbivorumplant-eating organism
Lithuanian žolėdis, augalėdis
- žolėdisplant-eating organism
- augalėdisplant-eating organism
Malay binatang maun, haiwan maun
- binatang maunplant-eating organism
- haiwan maunplant-eating organism
- haiwan herbivorplant-eating organism
- herbivorplant-eating organism
Māori kaiota
- kaiotaplant-eating organism
Norwegian Bokmål planteeter
- planteeterplant-eating organism
Persian گیاهخوار
- گیاهخوار (giyâhxvâr)plant-eating organism
Polish roślinożerca
- roślinożercaplant-eating organism
Portuguese herbívoro
- herbívoroplant-eating organism
Romanian erbivor
- erbivorplant-eating organism
Russian травоя́дное живо́тное, фитофа́г
- травоя́дное живо́тное (travojádnoje živótnoje)plant-eating organism
- фитофа́г (fitofág)plant-eating organism
Scottish Gaelic lus-itheadair
- lus-itheadairplant-eating organism
Slovak bylinožravec
- bylinožravecplant-eating organism
Spanish herbívoro
- herbívoroplant-eating organism
Swahili mla-mimea
- mla-mimeaplant-eating organism
Swedish växtätare
- växtätareplant-eating organism
Tagalog halmankain, erbiboro
- halmankainplant-eating organism
- erbiboroplant-eating organism
Thai สัตว์กินพืช
- สัตว์กินพืช (sàt-gin-pʉ̂ʉt)plant-eating organism
Vietnamese động vật ăn cỏ, động vật ăn thực vật
- động vật ăn cỏplant-eating organism
- động vật ăn thực vậtplant-eating organism
Welsh llysysor, llysysydd
- llysysorplant-eating organism
- llysysyddplant-eating organism
Cite this entry
APA
herbivore. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/herbivore
MLA
“herbivore.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/herbivore. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “herbivore,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/herbivore.
Source: herbivore on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.