adj · 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
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˌɹɛp.təˈtɔː.ɹɪ.əl/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˌɹɛp.təˈtɔ.ɹɪ.əl/
rhymes with -ɔːɹiəl
1
adj
Meaning 1
Crawling, creeping.
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: reptant, reptatory
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From reptatory (“crawling, creeping”) + -al (suffix forming adjectives). Reptatory is probably derived from New Latin reptatorius (used in the binomial nomenclature of species), from Latin rēptātus (“on which one has crawled; where one has swum”) + -tōrius (suffix forming adjectives); rēptātus is the perfect passive participle of rēptō (“to crawl or creep (over or through)”), the frequentative form of rēpō (“to crawl, creep”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h1reh1p-.
Across languages
Translations
1 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Polish:
pełzający
— crawling, creeping — see also reptant