invertebrate

English

An example of an invertebrate- a sea cucumber.

Etymology

From in- +‎ vertebrate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvəːtɪbrət/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

invertebrate (plural invertebrates)

2. An animal without vertebrae (i.e., without a backbone).

   Antonym: vertebrate

   Hypernyms: animal < creature, critter

   Hyponyms: macroinvertebrate, microinvertebrate; see also Thesaurus:invertebrate

   • 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.

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

   Synonyms: gutless wonder; see also Thesaurus:coward

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 (kn) (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)
• Latin: invertebrātum n
• Lithuanian: bestuburis m
• Macedonian: безрбетник m (bezrbetnik)
• Malay: haiwan invertebrat, invertebrat
• Māori: 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:

  Latin: 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. Without a backbone: without vertebrae.

   Synonym: spineless

   Antonyms: vertebrate, vertebrated

   • 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.

   Synonyms: spineless; see also Thesaurus:cowardly

   • 2022 November 21, Barney Ronay, “Iran’s brave and powerful gesture is a small wonder from a World Cup of woe”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     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.

Translations

lacking backbone

• Armenian: անողնաշար (hy) (anoġnašar)
• Asturian: invertebráu (ast)
• Belarusian: бесхрыбе́тны (bjesxrybjétny), беспазвано́чны (be) (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

• Latin: invertebrātus
• Macedonian: безрбетен (bezrbeten)
• Malay: tidak bertulang belakang, invertebrat
• Māori: 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