Meanings
comparative more ruminant · superlative most ruminant
- Chewing cud.
- Pondering; ruminative.
1927, G. K. Chesterton, "[https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/g-k-chesterton/the-secret-of-father-brown/text/the-red-moon-of-meru The Red Moon of Meru", in The Secret of Father Brown “I wonder what a paradox is,” remarked the priest in a ruminant manner.
plural ruminants
- Any artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud in the suborder Ruminantia, such as cattle or deer.
Flesh behind steel and glass is unprotected From enemies that whisper to the blood; The scratch forgotten is the scratch infected; The ruminant, reason, chews a poisoned cud.
1941, Theodore Roethke, “Prognosis”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC, page 5
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiverelated to or characteristic of animals of the suborder Ruminantia or any other animal that chews a cud
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinrūmināns, rūminantem
- Englishruminant
From Latin rūmināns, rūminantem, present participle of rūminārī (“to chew the cud, ruminate”), from rūmen (“throat, gullet, rumen (first stomach of a ruminant)”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُجْتَرّ, مُجْتَرّ
- مُجْتَرّ (mujtarr)chewing cud
- مُجْتَرّ (mujtarr)artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
- مُجْتَرَّات (mujtarrāt)artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Bulgarian преживен, преживно животно
- преживен (preživen)chewing cud
- преживно животно (preživno životno)artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Catalan remugant, remugant
- remugantchewing cud
- remugantartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Chinese Mandarin 反芻動物 /反刍动物
- 反芻動物 /反刍动物 (fǎnchú dòngwù)artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Czech přežvýkavec
- přežvýkavecartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Danish drøvtyggende, drøvtygger
- drøvtyggendechewing cud
- drøvtyggerartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Dutch herkauwer
- herkauwerartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Esperanto remaĉulo
- remaĉuloartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Estonian mäletseja
- mäletsejaartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Finnish märehtivä, märehtijä
- märehtivächewing cud
- märehtijäartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
French ruminant, ruminant
- ruminantchewing cud
- ruminantartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
- ruminanteartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
German wiederkäuend, Wiederkäuer
- wiederkäuendchewing cud
- Wiederkäuerartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Greek μηρυκαστικό
- μηρυκαστικό (mirykastikó)artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Hungarian kérődző
- kérődzőartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Icelandic jórturdýr
- jórturdýrartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Indonesian ruminansia
- ruminansiaartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Italian ruminante
- ruminanteartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Japanese 反芻動物
- 反芻動物 (hansū dōbutsu)artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Korean 반추 동물
- 반추 동물 (banchu dongmul)artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Latin rūmināns
- rūminānsartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Malay ruminan
- ruminanartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Norwegian Bokmål drøvtyggende, drøvtygger
- drøvtyggendechewing cud
- drøvtyggerartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Polish przeżuwający, zadumany
- przeżuwającychewing cud
- zadumanypondering, ruminative
- przeżuwaczartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Portuguese ruminante, ruminante
- ruminantechewing cud
- ruminanteartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Romanian rumegătoare
- rumegătoareartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Russian жва́чный, жвачное живо́тное
- жва́чный (žváčnyj)chewing cud
- жвачное живо́тное (žvačnoje živótnoje)artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Scottish Gaelic ath-chagnach
- ath-chagnachchewing cud
Slovak prežúvavý, prežúvavec
- prežúvavýchewing cud
- prežúvavecartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Spanish rumiante, rumiante
- rumiantechewing cud
- rumianteartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Swedish idisslare
- idisslareartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Thai สัตว์เคี้ยวเอื้อง
- สัตว์เคี้ยวเอื้อง (sàt-kíao-ʉ̂ʉang)artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Turkish geviş getiren, geviş getiren
- geviş getirenchewing cud
- geviş getirenartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Ukrainian жуйний, ремигаючий
- жуйний (žujnyj)chewing cud
- ремигаючий (remyhajučyj)chewing cud
- задумливий (zadumlyvyj)pondering, ruminative
- жуйна тварина (žujna tvaryna)artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
- жу́йні (žújni)artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Welsh cilgnöol, cilfil
- cilgnöolchewing cud
- cilfilartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
- cilfilynartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
- cilgnöwrartiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud
Cite this entry
ruminant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ruminant
“ruminant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ruminant. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ruminant,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ruminant.
Source: ruminant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.