mammalian
Americannoun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mammalian
Explanation
Use the adjective mammalian to describe warm-blooded vertebrates with hair, or anything related to them. Your sister might be fond of snakes and frogs, while you'd prefer a mammalian pet, like a dog or cat. You, your pet dog, a gorilla, and a skunk all have something very important in common: you can all be described as mammalian, since you are all in the scientific class known as Mammalia. Mammalian characteristics range from having three small bones in each ear, to not being born inside an egg (with the exception of the platypus and other monotremes), to being nursed by a mother as an infant.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"This implies that viviparity among early cynodonts originated in the mammalian lineage at least 95 to 90 million years earlier than previously thought."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
Federal inspectors detailed multiple instances of mammalian hair found in drugs produced at a Catalent plant in Bloomington, Ind., used in part to manufacture semaglutide.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
His current best theory is that it’s generated by quantum processes, suggesting that awareness exists on a continuous spectrum across all matter rather than remaining the exclusive domain of mammalian brains.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
"This paper is, as far as I know, the first real evidence that this is how it actually works in a mammalian brain," Harnett says.
From Science Daily ● May 6, 2026
In addition, I mentioned factors disqualifying big mammalian candidates for domestication, but I did not tabulate how many candidates are disqualified by each factor on each continent.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
