water bear

water bear

English

Two water bears

Etymology

Calque of German Wasserbär, used to describe these animals by Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773.

Noun

water bear (plural water bears)

1. (zoology) A member of the animal phylum Tardigrada.

Synonyms

• moss piglet
• pudgy wudgy
• space bear
• tardigrade

Translations

A member of the phylum Tardigrada

Finnish: karhukainen (fi) German: Bärtierchen (de) n, Wasserbär m Hebrew: דובון מים‎ m (dubón máyim) Italian: orso d'acqua Japanese: クマムシ (kumamushi), 緩歩動物 (ja) (kanpodōbutsu)

Navajo: tsįdláádkááʼ naatʼiʼí Polish: niesporczak m Portuguese: tardígrado, urso d'água Russian: тихохо́дка (ru) f (tixoxódka) Spanish: oso de agua m