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Glite Dictionary
Felidae

Felidae

1 7.5
A family of mammals that includes all cats such as lions and house cats
  • noun
  • /ˈfɛlɪdeɪ/
  • Specialized
: Felidae
  • Rob Ruiz, Marin County Parks chief park ranger, and Zara McDonald, executive director of the Sausalito-based Felidae Conservation Fund, gave us information on what to do if you encounter a mountain lion in the wild and how you can avoid them:
  • the Felidae family of cats
  • the Felidae family

Examples

  • That way, I could eliminate the whole family Felidae.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The sexual cycle is limited to the members of Felidae, while the asexual cycle is completed in mammals and birds.

    Academic text (2014)

  • The sexual cycle is limited to the members of the Felidae (cats) family, while the asexual cycle completes in mammals and birds.

    Academic text (2014)

  • Lions, like this male, are members of the family Felidae; they're one of four big cats—lion, tiger, jaguar, and leopard in the genus Panthera.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The cat family, Felidae, includes species such as lions, tigers, and domestic cats.

  • Scientists classify lions and tigers as part of the biological family Felidae.

  • Members of the Felidae family are known for their sharp retractable claws and retractile teeth.

Surface Forms

Felidae singular
Felidae plural

Morphology

Felidae = felid (opaque) = felid + idae

The taxonomic suffix '-idae' is technical and the family-name formation is not transparently meaningful to average learners.

Etymology

Felidae comes from the Latin word felis, which means 'cat', plus the ending -idae that names animal families, and you can see the same root in feline. So Felidae simply means the 'cat family', the group that includes lions, tigers and house cats.