It’s always annoyed me that dictionary makers don’t bother to cross-reference words… of particular interest to me are animals and the variety of special words we use such as for males, females, young, dwellings, adjectives, aggregators, etc.
I’ve thrown some of the words I can think of into a spreadsheet and converted it to a web table but help filling in the blanks spots, or any suggestions as to better column names or perhaps a completely different organisation would be great.
Fantastic project! I think I can help fill in some of the blanks - do I post them here?
Other categories that could be included are words for the killing of an animal - for example, the killing of a wolf is lupicide - and words about how animals and birds move: and ape swings, or a cat steals, for example.
yes! do post here. I’ve included the "cf" column to include anything I could think of that was related but couldn’t find a good name for… so that currently includes things like quack, bark, dawdle, etc. perhaps I should have a column called behaviour?
This is a good project, Ekkis! However, I’m not so sure about your Variants column. Are you looking for synonyms, or examples of animals? For instance, in your entry for Duck, most seem to be types or species of ducks, not synonyms for duck. Also, skein refers to a flock of wildfowl (geese or ducks) in flight as oppose to at rest, when gaggle and and flock would apply.
Wolverine, coyote, and jackal are not variants of wolf. According to the dictionary, the wolverine is a member of the weasel family, and the coyote and jackal are related to wolves only in being of the same family (Canidae) and genus (Canis) as is the dog (Canis familiaris). A fox, for instance, is the same family (Canidae) but a different genus (Vulpes (hence the constellation Vulpecula, The Fox)). A raptor is any bird of prey, not just an eagle.
These are just comments. It is a valuable project. I always thought of a skein as just a loop of yarn until I looked it up. I live near the water and will now try to remember to call those noisy migratory Canadians a skein of geese rather than a flock.
Well, here goes. I will admit that I am cheating here, as I have a book with the inspiring title English for Everyone and that it has some great lists.
Some of the animals may not be on your table, Ekkis,
but I’ll post the information anyway.
Names given to male, female and young of animals
format: animal, male, female, young
Ass, ass, mare, foal
Bear, bear, she-bear, cub
Goat, billy-goat, nanny-goat, kid
Goat, goat, she-goat, kid
Pig, boar, sow, piglet/pigling/porkling
Deer, buck, doe, fawn
Deer, stag, hind, fawn
Hare, buck, doe, leveret
Rabbit, buck, doe, rack
Cattle/seal/elephant/whale, bull, cow, calf
Dog, dog, bitch, pup/puppy
Fox, dog, vixen, cub
Donkey, donkey, mare, foal
Leopard, leopard, leopardess, cub
Lion, lion, lioness, cub
Sheep, ram, ewe, lamb
Horse, stallion, mare, foal (foal is common gender. Male foal is a colt, the female foal a filly)
Tiger, tiger, tigress, cub
Cat, tom-cat, tabby-cat, kitten
Wolf, wolf, she-wolf, cub
The interesting thing to note is that deer and goats are given two listings in the book.
an ape swings
an ass jogs
a bat flits
a bird flutters/flies
a bull charges
a butterfly flits
a bear lumbers
a bee flits
a beetle crawls
a cricket jumps
a crow flaps
a deer bounds
a dog runs
a donkey trots
a duck waddles
an eagle swoops
an elephant ambles
a frog jumps/leaps
a hen struts
a horse gallops
a hound bounds
a hyena prowls
a kangaroo bounds
a kitten frisks
a lamb frisks
a cat steals
a cock struts
a cow wanders
a lion prowls
a lizard creeps
a monkey swings/climbs
a mouse scampers
an owl flits
a parrot flits
a peacock struts
a pig trots
a pigeon flutters
a rabbit hops/leaps
a snail crawls
a snake glides
a sparrow flits
a swallow dives
a turkey struts
a wolf lopes
I also have a list of words about sounds made by animals, birds and insects - will post this later.
It is interesting to note that there is also a language of venery (hunting, that is, not sexual indulgence). Here’s a sample for groups of animals:
a cete of badgers
a skulk of foxes
a pride of lions
a singular of boars
a sounder of swine
a nye of pheasants
a gaggle of geese
a badling of ducks
a fall of woodcock
a wisp of snipe
Words about Sounds Made by Animals, Birds and Insects
an ape gibbers
an ass brays
a bear growls
a bee hums
a beetle drones
a bird sings/twitters/chirps/whistles/warbles
a bull bellows
a calf bleats
a dog yelps/barks/bays/whines/growls/howls/snarls
a donkey brays
a dove coos
a duck quacks
an eagle screams
an elephant trumpets
a fly buzzes
a fox yelps/barks
a frog croaks
a camel grunts
a cat mews/purrs
cattle low
a cock crows
cows low/moo
a cricket chirps
a cockerel crows
a crow caws
a deer bells
a mynah whistles
a nightingale sings/warbles
an owl hoots/screeches/sings/screams/warbles
an ox lows/bellows
a parrot talks/screeches
a pea-fowl screams
a pigeon coos
a pig grunts/squeals
a puppy yelps
a goose cackles/gabbles
a goat bleats
a grasshopper chirps
a hawk screams
a hen cackles/clucks
a horse neighs/snorts [- or nickers or whinnies]
a hound bays
a hyena laughs/screams
a jackal laughs/howls
a kitten mews
a lamb bleats
a lark sings/warbles
a lion roars
a magpie chatters
a monkey chatters
a mouse squeaks
a mosquito buzzes
a rabbit squeals
a raven croaks
a rook caws
a seagull screams
a serpent hisses
a sheep bleats
a small bird chirps/twitters/pipes
a snake hisses
a sparrow chirps/twitters
a swallow twitters
a swan cries [unless it is in literature, then it sings as it dies]
a thrush whistles
a tiger growls/roars
a turkey gobbles
a vulture screams
a wolf howls/yells
