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 (zh), 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^[1]:

     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)

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Italian

Adjective

invertebrate

1. feminine plural of invertebrato