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Added 10 October 2026

insectivore

/ɪnˈsɛktəˌvɔː/ noun

Latin root: origins Coined: 1840, by William Whewell Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about insectivore at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Small insect-eating mainly nocturnal terrestrial or fossorial mammals.
Any organism that feeds mainly on insects.

Origin

From French insectivore. In the zoological sense, coined by English philosopher and historian of science William Whewell in 1840 as an adaptation of Cuvier's coinage, French insectivore. The French terms reflect scientific New Latin origins. By surface analysis, insect + -i- + -vore.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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