pinniped

[pin-uh-ped]

adjective

belonging to the Pinnipedia, a suborder of carnivores with limbs adapted to an aquatic life, including the seals and walruses.

noun

a pinniped animal.

Origin of pinniped

From the New Latin word Pinnipedia, dating back to 1835–45. See pinna, -i-, -ped, -ia

Related formspin·ni·pe·di·an

[pin-uh-pee-dee-uh n] /ˌpɪn əˈpi di ən/, adjective, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for pinniped

pinniped

pinnipedian (ˌpɪnɪˈpiːdɪən)

adjective

of, relating to, or belonging to the Pinnipedia, an order of aquatic placental mammals having a streamlined body and limbs specialized as flippers: includes seals, sea lions, and the walrus

noun

any pinniped animal

Compare fissiped

Word Origin for pinniped

C19: from New Latin pinnipēs, from Latin pinna feather, fin + pēs foot

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 pinniped

1842, from Modern Latin Pinnipedia, suborder of aquatic carnivorous mammals (seals and walruses), literally "having feet as fins," from Latin pinna in secondary sense "fin" (see pin (n.)) + pes, genitive pedis "foot" (see foot (n.)).

pinniped in Science

pinniped

[pĭn′ə-pĕd′]

Any of various carnivorous, aquatic mammals of the group Pinnipedia, which some believe is a suborder of the Carnivora but others consider a separate mammalian order. Pinnipeds have long, smooth bodies and finlike flippers for swimming. Seals and walruses are pinnipeds.