noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˌfɒɹəmɪˈnɪfəɹə/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌfɒɹəmɪˈnɪfɹə/
Received-Pronunciation:/fəˌɹæmɪˈnɪf(ə)ɹə/
General-American:/fəˌɹæməˈnɪf(ə)ɹə/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Synonym of foraminifer (“any of a large group of aquatic amoeboid protists of the subphylum Foraminifera, characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm that among other things is used for catching food, often with a calcareous shell with many holes through which pseudopodia protrude”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: foraminifer
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
plural of foraminiferon
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, plural
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
plural of foraminiferum
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, plural
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
foraminifers
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: order Foraminifera
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: animal order
History
Etymology
Learned borrowing from New Latin Foraminifera (subphylum name), from French foraminifère (“foraminifer, foraminifera”), from French Foraminifères, coined by the French naturalist Alcide d’Orbigny (1802–1857) in an 1826 article. Foraminifère is derived from Latin forāmina (“apertures, holes”) + -fer (“-bearing”).