Standard Lemma guide

onychophoran

noun · 2 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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1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of many wormlike carnivorous ecdysozoan animals of the phylum Onychophora.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences, zoology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any of numerous velvety-skinned wormlike carnivorous animals common in tropical forests having characteristics of both arthropods and annelid worms

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: velvet worm, peripatus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: arthropod

Narrower terms: Plicatoperipatus jamaicensis

History

Etymology

From translingual Onychophora (corresponding to onycho- + -phore) + -an.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Galician: onicóforo — a carnivorous ecdysozoan worm
  • Japanese: 有爪動物 (yūsō dōbutsu) — a carnivorous ecdysozoan worm
  • Māori: ngāokeoke — a carnivorous ecdysozoan worm
  • Polish: pazurnica — a carnivorous ecdysozoan worm
  • Polish: pratchawiec — a carnivorous ecdysozoan worm
  • Portuguese: onicóforo — a carnivorous ecdysozoan worm
  • Spanish: onicóforo — a carnivorous ecdysozoan worm
  • Swedish: klomask — a carnivorous ecdysozoan worm