graminivorous

[gram-uh-niv-er-uh s]

adjective

feeding or subsisting on grass: a graminivorous bird.

Origin of graminivorous

1730–40; < Latin grāmin- (stem of grāmen) grass + -i- + -vorous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for graminivorous

Historical Examples of graminivorous

Thus was a graminivorous animal nurtured by a carnivorous and predaceous one!
The Natural History of Selborne, Vol. 2
Gilbert White
Thus was a graminivorous animal nurtured by a carnivorous and predacious one!
The Book of Curiosities
I. Platts
This graminivorous animal goes nearly as far to the north as the land in the old world.
The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II
A.E. Nordenskieold
They are something larger than a grey squirrel, and very fat; supposed to be graminivorous.
Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Volume 28
Various
The digestive apparatus of graminivorous animals is less simple, and their food contains very little nitrogen.
The World's Greatest Books - Volume 15 - Science
Various

British Dictionary definitions for graminivorous

graminivorous

adjective

(of animals) feeding on grass

Word Origin for graminivorous

C18: from Latin grāmen grass + -vorous

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for graminivorous

adj.

"feeding on grass," 1739, from gramini-, comb. form of Latin gramen (genitive graminis) "grass, fodder," which perhaps ultimately is cognate with English grass, + -vorous.