scientific name

American  

[sahy-uhn-tif-ik naym] / ˈsaɪ ənˌtɪf ɪk ˈneɪm /

noun

scientific names plural

1. the name used by scientists for a particular organism, consisting of the genus name followed by the species name, conventionally in italics and with the genus name spelled with a capital letter, the species name with a lower-case letter; taxonomic name, binomial nomenclature.

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scientific name Scientific  

/ sī′ən-tĭf′ĭk /

1. A name used by scientists, especially the taxonomic name of an organism that consists of the genus and species. Scientific names usually come from Latin or Greek. An example is Homo sapiens, the scientific name for humans.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• scientific naming
  noun

Inflected Forms

noun

• scientific names
  plural

Example Sentences

The scientific name for screwworm really struck me, because it’s Cochliomyia hominivorax, which translates to “man-eater.”

From Slate • Jun. 11, 2026

Lunar regolith is the scientific name for the dusty material that covers the Moon's surface.

From Science Daily • Mar. 12, 2026

When researchers discovered a gecko that reminded them of the paintings of van Gogh, they gave it the scientific name Cnemaspis vangoghi.

From Salon • Sep. 20, 2024

The fox, which goes by the scientific name, Dusicyon avus, was of a medium size weighing 10-15 kg.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2024

The scientific name for the “corn” that was cultivated in the Americas is Zea mays.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz