Standard Lemma guide

tenrec

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

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.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of several diverse small mammals, of the family Tenrecidae, many native to Madagascar.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

small often spiny insectivorous mammal of Madagascar; resembles a hedgehog

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tendrac

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: insectivore

Narrower terms: tailless tenrec, Tenrec ecaudatus

History

Etymology

From French tanrec, from Malagasy tàndraka or trandraka related to Malay landak (“porcupine”); English from 18th century.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: tenrek — mammal of the family Tenrecidae
  • Chinese Mandarin: 馬島蝟 /马岛猬 (Mǎdǎo wèi) — mammal of the family Tenrecidae
  • Finnish: tanrekki — mammal of the family Tenrecidae
  • Malagasy: sokina — mammal of the family Tenrecidae
  • Polish: tenrek — mammal of the family Tenrecidae
  • Romanian: tanrec — mammal of the family Tenrecidae
  • Thai: เทนเรค (teen-rêek) — mammal of the family Tenrecidae
  • Turkish: tenrek — mammal of the family Tenrecidae