Feeding on animals or animal matter; carnivorous or eating flesh as food.
From Latin 'animalis' (animal) + 'vorare' (to devour), following the pattern of other -vorous words like herbivorous. The term combines the root for 'animal' with the Latin root meaning 'to eat or consume.'
This word is basically a fancier way to say 'meat-eater,' but it reveals how scientists love creating compound words from Latin and Greek to sound more precise—even when we already have simpler words that mean the same thing!
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