invertebrate

invertebrate

English

An example of an invertebrate- a sea cucumber.

Etymology

in- +‎ vertebrate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvəːtɪbrət/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

invertebrate (plural invertebrates)

1. An animal without vertebrae, i.e. backbone.
2. (informal) A spineless person; a coward.

Antonyms

• vertebrate

Translations

animal without backbone

Afrikaans: invertebraat Albanian: invertebrore m Arabic: لَا فَقَارِيّ‎ (lā faqāriyy) Armenian: անողնաշար (hy) (anołnašar) Azerbaijani: onurğasız Belarusian: беспазвано́чнае n (bjespazvanóčnaje) Breton: divellkeineg m Bulgarian: безгръбна́чно живо́тно n (bezgrǎbnáčno živótno), безгръбна́чно (bg) n (bezgrǎbnáčno) Catalan: invertebrat m Chinese: Mandarin: 無脊椎動物／无脊椎动物 (zh) (wújǐzhuī dòngwù) Czech: bezobratlý (cs) m Dutch: ongewervelde (nl) Esperanto: malvertebrulo, senvertebrulo Finnish: selkärangaton (fi) French: invertébré (fr) m Galician: invertebrado m Georgian: უხერხემლო (uxerxemlo) German: Invertebrat n, Wirbelloses n Greek: ασπόνδυλο (el) n (aspóndylo) Hungarian: gerinctelen (hu) Icelandic: hryggleysingi (is) m Irish: inveirteabrach m Italian: invertebrato (it) m Japanese: 無脊椎動物 (ja) (むせきついどうぶつ, musekitsui dōbutsu) Kannada: ಅಕಶೇರುಕ (akaśēruka) Kazakh: омыртқасыз (omyrtqasyz) Khmer: សត្វឥតឆ្អឹងកង (sat ʼət chʼəng kɑɑng) Korean: 무척추동물(無脊椎動物) (mucheokchudongmul) Kyrgyz: омурткасыз (omurtkasız) Lao: ສັດບໍ່ມີກະດູກສັນຫລັງ (sat bǭ mī ka dūk san lang) Lithuanian: bestuburis m Macedonian: безрбетник m (bezrbetnik) Malay: haiwan invertebrat, invertebrat Maori: hātaretare Navajo: chʼosh bíígháán ádaadinígíí Polish: bezkręgowiec (pl) m Portuguese: invertebrado (pt) m Romanian: nevertebrată (ro) f, nevertebrat (ro) m Russian: беспозвоно́чное (ru) n (bespozvonóčnoje) Serbo-Croatian: Roman: beskičmenjak (sh) m, beskičmen (sh) m, beskralješnjak m Slovak: bezstavovec m Slovene: nevretenčar m Spanish: invertebrado (es) m Swahili: wasouti Swedish: ryggradslöst djur (sv) n Tajik: бемӯҳра (bemühra) Thai: สัตว์ไม่มีกระดูกสันหลัง (sàt-mâi-mii-grà-dùuk-sǎn-lǎng) Turkish: omurgasız (tr) Ukrainian: безхребе́тна твари́на f (bezxrebétna tvarýna) Uzbek: umurtqasiz (uz) Vietnamese: động vật không xương sống

Adjective

invertebrate (not comparable)

1. Lacking a backbone; without vertebrae.
   • 1860, Recreative Science (page 110)

     Tear it up, and put a fragment under the microscope, and, wonder of wonders! see the maze of geometric forms exhibited in the bones of the creature; for who can help regarding the spicules as bones, even though a sponge be invertebrate?

2. Cowardly, uncourageous; lacking character.

   Synonym: spineless

   • 2022 November 21, Barney Ronay, “Iran’s brave and powerful gesture is a small wonder from a World Cup of woe”, in The Guardian‎:

     This week Fifa’s morally invertebrate president, Gianni Infantino, gave a speech that attempted to paint his World Cup as a marker of a grand struggle between the bright new world and corrupt old Europe, with Infantino himself the Mandela at its centre.

Antonyms

• vertebrate, vertebrated

Translations

lacking backbone

Armenian: անողնաշար (hy) (anołnašar) Asturian: invertebráu (ast) Belarusian: бесхрыбе́тны (bjesxrybjétny), беспазвано́чны (bjespazvanóčny) Bulgarian: безгръбна́чен (bg) (bezgrǎbnáčen) Catalan: invertebrat Chinese: Mandarin: 無脊椎的／无脊椎的 (wú jǐzhuī de) Czech: bezpáteřný, bezobratlý (cs) Dutch: ongewerveld (nl) Finnish: selkärangaton (fi) French: invertébré (fr) Galician: invertebrado German: wirbellos (de) Hungarian: gerinctelen (hu) Indonesian: invertebrata (id) Irish: inveirteabrach Italian: invertebrato (it) Japanese: 無脊椎 (ja) (むせきつい, musekitsui) Korean: 무척추(無脊椎) (mucheokchu) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: bêbirrbirredar Macedonian: безрбетен (bezrbeten) Malay: tidak bertulang belakang, invertebrat Maori: tuaiwikore Navajo: bíígháán ádaadinígíí Norwegian: Bokmål: virvelløs Occitan: invertebrat Polish: bezkręgowy (pl) Portuguese: invertebrado (pt) Romanian: nevertebrat (ro) m or n Russian: беспозвоно́чный (ru) (bespozvonóčnyj), бесхребе́тный (ru) (besxrebétnyj) Spanish: invertebrado (es) Swedish: ryggradslös (sv) Ukrainian: безхребе́тний (uk) (bezxrebétnyj)

See also

• inveterate (not to be confused)

---

Italian

Adjective

invertebrate

1. feminine plural of invertebrato