mammal

mam·mal
M3A1M3M3A1L1
US/ˈmæməl/

noun

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.

Similar
mammalian
OriginLatin mamma ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? →
Less commonScrabble 12
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Meanings

nounmammal (plural mammals)

plural mammals

  1. 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.
  2. biologyA vertebrate with three bones in the inner ear and one in the jaw.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
mammalian
Broader
vertebrateanimal
Narrower
ruminantcattlesheepgoatpigequidhorsezebraassdonkeymuleelephantrhinohippofelinecatlionpumacheetahtigercaniddogwolffoxcoyotejackalbearmarsupialkangaroomonotremeplatypuskoalaprimateapemonkeymanlemurslothrabbitrodent

nounany warm-blooded vertebrate having the skin more or less covered with hair; young are born alive except for the small subclass of monotremes and nourished with milk

Similar
mammalian
Broader
vertebratecraniate
Also see
mammalian

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

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

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).

More words from Latin, Late Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans soogdier
  • soogdieranimal of the class Mammalia
Arabic ثَدْيِيّ
  • ثَدْيِيّ (ṯadyiyy)animal of the class Mammalia
Basque ugaztun
  • ugaztunanimal of the class Mammalia
Bengali স্তন্যপায়ী
  • স্তন্যপায়ী (stonnopaẏi)animal of the class Mammalia
Bulgarian боза́йник
  • боза́йник (bozájnik)animal of the class Mammalia
Catalan mamífer
  • mamíferanimal of the class Mammalia
Chinese Mandarin 哺乳類 /哺乳类, 哺乳動物 /哺乳动物
  • 哺乳類 /哺乳类 (bǔrǔlèi)animal of the class Mammalia
  • 哺乳動物 /哺乳动物 (bǔrǔ dòngwù)animal of the class Mammalia
Czech savec
  • savecanimal of the class Mammalia
Danish pattedyr
  • pattedyranimal of the class Mammalia
Dutch zoogdier
  • zoogdieranimal of the class Mammalia
Esperanto mamulo
  • mamuloanimal of the class Mammalia
Estonian imetaja
  • imetajaanimal of the class Mammalia
Finnish nisäkäs, nisäkäs
  • nisäkäsanimal of the class Mammalia
  • nisäkäspaleontology: vertebrate with three bones in the inner ear and one in the jaw
French mammifère
  • mammifèreanimal of the class Mammalia
German Säugetier
  • Säugetieranimal of the class Mammalia
Greek θηλαστικό, θηλαστικό
  • θηλαστικό (thilastikó)animal of the class Mammalia
  • θηλαστικό (thilastikó)paleontology: vertebrate with three bones in the inner ear and one in the jaw
Hebrew יוֹנֵק
  • יוֹנֵק (yonék)animal of the class Mammalia
Hindi स्तनपायी, स्तनधारी
  • स्तनपायी (stanpāyī)animal of the class Mammalia
  • स्तनधारी (standhārī)animal of the class Mammalia
Hungarian emlős
  • emlősanimal of the class Mammalia
Icelandic spendýr
  • spendýranimal of the class Mammalia
Indonesian mamalia, hewan menyusui
  • mamaliaanimal of the class Mammalia
  • hewan menyusuianimal of the class Mammalia
Irish mamach
  • mamachanimal of the class Mammalia
Italian mammifero
  • mammiferoanimal of the class Mammalia
Japanese 哺乳類
  • 哺乳類 (honyūrui)animal of the class Mammalia
Korean 포유류
  • 포유류 (poyuryu)animal of the class Mammalia
Latin mammalis, mammalia
  • mammalisanimal of the class Mammalia
  • mammaliaanimal of the class Mammalia
Latvian zīdītājs
  • zīdītājsanimal of the class Mammalia
Lithuanian žinduolis
  • žinduolisanimal of the class Mammalia
Malay mamalia
  • mamaliaanimal of the class Mammalia
Maori kararehe whāngote
  • kararehe whāngoteanimal of the class Mammalia
Norwegian Bokmål pattedyr
  • pattedyranimal of the class Mammalia
Persian پستاندار
  • پستاندار (pestândâr)animal of the class Mammalia
Polish ssak
  • ssakanimal of the class Mammalia
Portuguese mamífero
  • mamíferoanimal of the class Mammalia
Punjabi ਥਣਧਾਰੀ
  • ਥਣਧਾਰੀ (thaṇdhārī)animal of the class Mammalia
Romanian mamifer
  • mamiferanimal of the class Mammalia
Russian млекопита́ющее, зверь
  • млекопита́ющее (mlekopitájuščeje)animal of the class Mammalia
  • зверь (zverʹ)animal of the class Mammalia
Slovak cicavec
  • cicavecanimal of the class Mammalia
Spanish mamífero
  • mamíferoanimal of the class Mammalia
Swedish däggdjur
  • däggdjuranimal of the class Mammalia
Tagalog wilik, mamipero
  • wilikanimal of the class Mammalia
  • mamiperoanimal of the class Mammalia
  • mamalyaanimal of the class Mammalia
Thai สัตว์เลี้ยงลูกด้วยน้ำนม, สัตว์กินนม
  • สัตว์เลี้ยงลูกด้วยน้ำนม (sàt-líiang-lûuk-dûai-náam-nom)animal of the class Mammalia
  • สัตว์กินนม (sàt-gin-nom)animal of the class Mammalia
Turkish memeli, memeli hayvan
  • memelianimal of the class Mammalia
  • memeli hayvananimal of the class Mammalia
Ukrainian ссаве́ць, звір
  • ссаве́ць (ssavécʹ)animal of the class Mammalia
  • звір (zvir)animal of the class Mammalia
Urdu سَتْنَپَایِی
  • سَتْنَپَایِی (satnapāyī)animal of the class Mammalia
Vietnamese động vật có vú, thú
  • động vật có vúanimal of the class Mammalia
  • thúanimal of the class Mammalia
Welsh mamal
  • mamalanimal of the class Mammalia
Yiddish זויגער
  • זויגער (zoyger)animal of the class Mammalia

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with mammal

TamilenamelYAMLtrammelArabian camelBactrian camelceramalrammeltramel
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

mammal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mammal

MLA

“mammal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mammal. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mammal,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mammal.

Source: mammal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.