Meanings
nounwater bear (plural water bears)
plural water bears
- biologyA member of the animal phylum Tardigrada.
Synonyms: moss piglet, pudgy wudgy, space bear, tardigrade, bear animalcule
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA member of the animal phylum Tardigrada.
Origin
- GermanWasserbär
- Englishwater bear
Calque of German Wasserbär, used to describe these animals by Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773. Equivalent to water + bear.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans waterbeertjie
- waterbeertjieA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Arabic بَطِيء الخَطْو, بَطِيء المِشْيَة
- بَطِيء الخَطْو (baṭīʔ al-ḵaṭw)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
- بَطِيء المِشْيَة (baṭīʔ al-mišya)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
- تارْدِيجْرادا (tārdīgrāda)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
- دُبّ المَاء (dubb al-māʔ)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
- خَنْزِير الطُحْلُب (ḵanzīr aṭ-ṭuḥlub)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
Bengali টারডিগ্রেড
- টারডিগ্রেড (ṭaroḍigreḍ)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
Bulgarian бавноходка
- бавноходка (bavnohodka)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
Catalan tardígrad
- tardígradA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Chinese Mandarin 水熊
- 水熊 (shuǐxióng)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
Czech želvuška
- želvuškaA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Danish bjørnedyr
- bjørnedyrA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Dutch beerdiertje
- beerdiertjeA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Esperanto tardigrado
- tardigradoA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Estonian tardigraad, loimur
- tardigraadA member of the phylum Tardigrada
- loimurA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Finnish karhukainen
- karhukainenA member of the phylum Tardigrada
French tardigrade, ourson d’eau
- tardigradeA member of the phylum Tardigrada
- ourson d’eauA member of the phylum Tardigrada
German Bärtierchen, Wasserbär
- BärtierchenA member of the phylum Tardigrada
- WasserbärA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Greek βραδύπορα
- βραδύπορα (vradýpora)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
Hebrew דובון מים
- דובון מים (dubón máyim)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
Hindi टार्डीग्रेड
- टार्डीग्रेड (ṭārḍīgreḍ)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
Hungarian medveállatka
- medveállatkaA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Icelandic bessadýr
- bessadýrA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Irish béar uisce
- béar uisceA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Italian orso d'acqua, tardigrado
- orso d'acquaA member of the phylum Tardigrada
- tardigradoA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Japanese クマムシ, 緩歩動物
- クマムシ (kumamushi)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
- 緩歩動物 (kanpodōbutsu)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
Korean 완보동물, 물곰
- 완보동물 (wanbodongmul)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
- 물곰 (mulgom)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
Latvian gauskājis
- gauskājisA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Lithuanian lėtūnas
- lėtūnasA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Malay beruang air, tardigrada
- beruang airA member of the phylum Tardigrada
- tardigradaA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Norwegian Bokmål bjørnedyr
- bjørnedyrA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Polish niesporczak
- niesporczakA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Portuguese tardígrado, urso d'água
- tardígradoA member of the phylum Tardigrada
- urso d'águaA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Romanian tardigrad
- tardigradA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Russian тихохо́дка
- тихохо́дка (tixoxódka)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
Slovak tardigrad, pomalk
- tardigradA member of the phylum Tardigrada
- pomalkA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Spanish oso de agua, tardígrado
- oso de aguaA member of the phylum Tardigrada
- tardígradoA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Swahili kidudu-dubu
- kidudu-dubuA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Swedish björndjur, trögkrypare
- björndjurA member of the phylum Tardigrada
- trögkrypareA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Tagalog tardigrado
- tardigradoA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Thai หมีน้ำ
- หมีน้ำ (mĕe náam)A member of the phylum Tardigrada
Turkish su ayısı, yosun domuzcuğu
- su ayısıA member of the phylum Tardigrada
- yosun domuzcuğuA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Vietnamese gấu nước
- gấu nướcA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Welsh arafsymudwr
- arafsymudwrA member of the phylum Tardigrada
Cite this entry
APA
water bear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/water%20bear
MLA
“water bear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/water%20bear. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “water bear,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/water%20bear.
Source: water bear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.