Contextualizebeta

invertebrate

noun
/ɪnˈvəːtɪbrət/

Etymology

From in- + vertebrate.

  1. derived from vertebrātus
  2. prefixed as invertebrate — “in-#Etymology_3 + vertebrate”

Definitions

  1. An animal without vertebrae (i.e., without a backbone).

  2. A spineless person

    A spineless person; a coward.

  3. Without a backbone

    Without a backbone: without vertebrae.

    • 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?
  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. Cowardly, uncourageous

      Cowardly, uncourageous; lacking character.

The neighborhood

Derived

macroinvertebrate, microinvertebrate

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at invertebrate. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01invertebrate02spineless03thorns04thorn05sharp06intelligent07capacity08absorb09sponge10invertebrates

A definitional loop anchored at invertebrate. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at invertebrate

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA