Standard Lemma guide

herbivory

noun · 1 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /həˈbɪvəɹi/
  • General-American: /hɚˈbɪvəɹi/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪvəɹi

1

noun

Meaning 1

The consumption of living plant tissue by animals.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: biology, ecology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: herbivorousness, phytophagy

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English herbivore Latin -ia Old French -ieder. Middle English -ie Middle English -y English -y English herbivory From herbivore + -y.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: býložravost — the consumption of living plant tissue by animals
  • Finnish: kasvinsyönti — the consumption of living plant tissue by animals
  • Italian: fitofagia — the consumption of living plant tissue by animals
  • Polish: roślinożerność — the consumption of living plant tissue by animals
  • Portuguese: herbivoria — the consumption of living plant tissue by animals