Standard Lemma guide

zoophyte

noun · 3 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: /ˈzəʊəfaɪt/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈzuːfaɪt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An animal thought to have the characteristics of a plant, later specifically an invertebrate of the (former) group Zoophyta, comprising sponges, corals and sea anemones.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A plant believed to have the characteristics of an animal, especially a sensitive plant or vegetable lamb.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

any of various invertebrate animals resembling a plant such as a sea anemone or coral or sponge

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: invertebrate

History

Etymology

From zoo- + -phyte, after Middle French zoophyte; later reinforced by scientific Latin Zoophyta.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: зоофи́т (zoofít) — invertebrate animal which resembles plants
  • Finnish: zoofyytti — invertebrate animal which resembles plants
  • Greek: ζωόφυτο (zoófyto) — invertebrate animal which resembles plants
  • Ido: zoofito — invertebrate animal which resembles plants
  • Irish: zóifít — invertebrate animal which resembles plants
  • Irish: míol-luibh — invertebrate animal which resembles plants
  • Italian: zoofito — invertebrate animal which resembles plants
  • Malay: zoofit — invertebrate animal which resembles plants
  • Polish: zwierzokrzew — invertebrate animal which resembles plants
  • Russian: зоофи́т (zoofít) — invertebrate animal which resembles plants
  • Spanish: zoófito — invertebrate animal which resembles plants