edentate

[ ee-den-teyt ]

adjective

1. belonging or pertaining to the Edentata, an order of New World mammals characterized by the absence of incisors and canines in the arrangement of teeth and comprising the armadillos, the sloths, and the South American anteaters.
2. toothless.

noun

1. an edentate mammal.

edentate

/ iːˈdɛnteɪt /

noun

1. any of the placental mammals that constitute the order Edentata, which inhabit tropical regions of Central and South America. The order includes anteaters, sloths, and armadillos

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the order Edentata

edentate

/ ē-dĕn′tāt′ /

Adjective

1. Lacking teeth.

Noun

1. Any of various mammals belonging to the order Xenarthra (or Edentata), having no front teeth and few or no back teeth. The lumbar vertebrae have extra joints, which add support during digging. Sloths, armadillos, and anteaters are edentates.

Word History and Origins

Origin of edentate¹

First recorded in 1820–30; from Latin ēdentātus, past participle of ēdentāre “to knock the teeth out”; equivalent to ē- variant of ex- “out of” + dent- (stem of dēns ) “tooth” + -ātus past participle ending of first conjugation verbs; e- ¹, tooth, -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of edentate¹

C19: from Latin ēdentātus lacking teeth, from ēdentāre to render toothless, from e- out + dēns tooth

Example Sentences

No hylid genus is edentate, and none has either T-shaped terminal phalanges or the unusual dorsal spinules.

From Project Gutenberg

Armadillo, rm-a-dil′o, n. a small American edentate quadruped, having its body armed with bands of bony plates:—pl.

From Project Gutenberg

The Glyptodon was a mailed edentate, eight feet long, resembling the little armadillo.

From Project Gutenberg

Edentate animals, such as the sloth, are without teeth, or at least are without the incisors.

From Project Gutenberg

I observe that Rudolphi distinctly refers to this edentate as the tamandua.

From Project Gutenberg