Standard Lemma guide

plantigrade

adj · 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

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: /ˈplæntɪɡɹeɪd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈplæntəˌɡɹeɪd/
  • General-American: [ˈpleə̯ɾ̃əˌɡɹeɪ̯d]

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of an animal: walking with the entire sole of the foot on the ground.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

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

A plantigrade animal; an animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot on the ground.

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

3

adjective

Meaning 3

(of mammals) walking on the whole sole of the foot (as rabbits, raccoons, bears, and humans do)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: digitigrade

4

noun

Meaning 4

an animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot touching the ground as e.g. bears and human beings

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: plantigrade mammal

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: placental, placental mammal, eutherian, eutherian mammal

History

Etymology

From French plantigrade, from Latin planta (“sole of the foot”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pléh2-n̥t-eh2, from *pleh2- (“flat”)) + -grade, from Latin gradus (“pace, step”).

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: който ходи на цяло стъпало (kojto hodi na cjalo stǎpalo) — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Bulgarian: плоскостъпен (ploskostǎpen) — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Catalan: plantígrad — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • French: plantigrade — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Greek: πελματοβάμων (pelmatovámon) — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Hungarian: talponjáró — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Ido: plantigrada — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Indonesian: plantigrad — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Irish: bonnsiúlach — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Italian: plantigrado — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Japanese: 蹠行の (shokō no) — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Russian: стопоходя́щий (stopoxodjáščij) — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Russian: плоскосто́пный (ploskostópnyj) — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Spanish: plantígrado — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Swedish: plantigrad — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Swedish: hälgående — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Welsh: gwadnrodiol — walking with the entire sole of the foot
  • Breton: palvgerzher — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • Catalan: plantígrad — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • Dutch: zoolganger — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • Finnish: kanta-astuja — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • French: plantigrade — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • German: Fersengänger — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • German: Sohlengänger — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • Greek: πελματοβάμονα (pelmatovámona) — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • Hungarian: talponjáró — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • Ido: plantigrado — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • Indonesian: plantigrad — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • Italian: plantigrado — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • Japanese: 蹠行動物 (shokō dōbutsu) — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • Spanish: plantígrado — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • Swedish: hälgångare — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot
  • Welsh: gwadnrodiwr — animal that walks with the entire sole of the foot