invertebrate

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

invertebrate

Wikipedia

Etymology

From in- +‎ vertebrate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvəːtɪbrət/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

invertebrate (plural invertebrates)

1. An animal without vertebrae, i.e. backbone.
   • 2024 March 20, Chris Howe, “High speed underneath the Chilterns...”, in RAIL, number 1005, page 33:

     Yet despite sounding inhospitable, grasslands such as this are home to a huge variety of smaller herbs and wildflowers, including some of the UK's rarest orchids and invertebrates, in addition to being home to butterfly species such as the Chalkhill Blue.

2. (informal) A spineless person; a coward.

Antonyms

• vertebrate

Derived terms

• macroinvertebrate
• microinvertebrate

Translations

animal without backbone

Afrikaans: invertebraat Albanian: invertebrore m Arabic: لَا فَقَارِيّ (lā faqāriyy) Armenian: անողնաշար (hy) (anoġnašar) Azerbaijani: onurğasız Belarusian: беспазвано́чнае n (bjespazvanóčnaje) Breton: divellkeineg m Bulgarian: безгръбна́чно живо́тно n (bezgrǎbnáčno živótno), безгръбна́чно (bg) n (bezgrǎbnáčno) Catalan: invertebrat m Chinese: Mandarin: 無脊椎動物 / 无脊椎动物 (zh) (wújǐzhuī dòngwù) Czech: bezobratlý (cs) m Dutch: ongewervelde (nl) Esperanto: malvertebrulo, senvertebrulo Finnish: selkärangaton (fi) French: invertébré (fr) m Galician: invertebrado (gl) m Georgian: უხერხემლო (uxerxemlo) German: Invertebrat n, Wirbelloses n Greek: ασπόνδυλο (el) n (aspóndylo) Hungarian: gerinctelen (hu) Icelandic: hryggleysingi (is) m Irish: inveirteabrach m Italian: invertebrato (it) m Japanese: 無脊椎動物 (ja) (むせきついどうぶつ, musekitsui dōbutsu) Kannada: ಅಕಶೇರುಕ (akaśēruka) Kazakh: омыртқасыз (omyrtqasyz) Khmer: សត្វឥតឆ្អឹងកង (sat ʼət chʼəng kɑɑng) Korean: 무척추동물(無脊椎動物) (mucheokchudongmul) Kyrgyz: омурткасыз (omurtkasız) Lao: ສັດບໍ່ມີກະດູກສັນຫລັງ (sat bǭ mī ka dūk san lang) Lithuanian: bestuburis m Macedonian: безрбетник m (bezrbetnik) Malay: haiwan invertebrat, invertebrat Maori: hātaretare Navajo: chʼosh bíígháán ádaadinígíí Polish: bezkręgowiec (pl) m Portuguese: invertebrado (pt) m Romanian: nevertebrată (ro) f, nevertebrat (ro) m Russian: беспозвоно́чное (ru) n (bespozvonóčnoje) Serbo-Croatian: Roman: beskičmenjak (sh) m, beskičmen (sh) m, beskralješnjak m Slovak: bezstavovec m Slovene: nevretenčar m Spanish: invertebrado (es) m Swahili: wasouti Swedish: ryggradslöst djur (sv) n Tajik: бемӯҳра (bemühra) Thai: สัตว์ไม่มีกระดูกสันหลัง (sàt-mâi-mii-grà-dùuk-sǎn-lǎng) Turkish: omurgasız (tr) Ukrainian: безхребе́тна твари́на f (bezxrebétna tvarýna) Uzbek: umurtqasiz (uz) Vietnamese: động vật không xương sống

Adjective

invertebrate (not comparable)

1. Lacking a backbone; without vertebrae.
   • 1860, Recreative Science, page 110:

     Tear it up, and put a fragment under the microscope, and, wonder of wonders! see the maze of geometric forms exhibited in the bones of the creature; for who can help regarding the spicules as bones, even though a sponge be invertebrate?

2. Cowardly, uncourageous; lacking character.

   Synonym: spineless

   • 2022 November 21, Barney Ronay, “Iran’s brave and powerful gesture is a small wonder from a World Cup of woe”, in The Guardian‎:

     This week Fifa’s morally invertebrate president, Gianni Infantino, gave a speech that attempted to paint his World Cup as a marker of a grand struggle between the bright new world and corrupt old Europe, with Infantino himself the Mandela at its centre.

Antonyms

• vertebrate, vertebrated

Translations

lacking backbone

Armenian: անողնաշար (hy) (anoġnašar) Asturian: invertebráu (ast) Belarusian: бесхрыбе́тны (bjesxrybjétny), беспазвано́чны (bjespazvanóčny) Bulgarian: безгръбна́чен (bg) (bezgrǎbnáčen) Catalan: invertebrat Chinese: Mandarin: 無脊椎的 / 无脊椎的 (wú jǐzhuī de) Czech: bezpáteřný, bezobratlý (cs) Dutch: ongewerveld (nl) Finnish: selkärangaton (fi) French: invertébré (fr) Galician: invertebrado (gl) German: wirbellos (de) Hungarian: gerinctelen (hu) Indonesian: invertebrata (id) Irish: inveirteabrach Italian: invertebrato (it) Japanese: 無脊椎 (ja) (むせきつい, musekitsui) Korean: 무척추(無脊椎) (mucheokchu) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: bêbirrbirredar Macedonian: безрбетен (bezrbeten) Malay: tidak bertulang belakang, invertebrat Maori: tuaiwikore Navajo: bíígháán ádaadinígíí Norwegian: Bokmål: virvelløs Occitan: invertebrat (oc) Polish: bezkręgowy (pl) Portuguese: invertebrado (pt) Romanian: nevertebrat (ro) m or n Russian: беспозвоно́чный (ru) (bespozvonóčnyj), бесхребе́тный (ru) (besxrebétnyj) Spanish: invertebrado (es) Swedish: ryggradslös (sv) Ukrainian: безхребе́тний (uk) (bezxrebétnyj) Vietnamese: không xương sống

See also

• inveterate (not to be confused)

Italian

Adjective

invertebrate

1. feminine plural of invertebrato