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Glite Dictionary
family Caeciliidae

family Caeciliidae

9.9
A group of limbless amphibians that look like worms and live underground in warm places
  • noun
  • /ˈfæmɪli ˌsiːsɪˈliːdeɪ/
  • Specialized
: familia Caeciliidae
  • Members of the family Caeciliidae are known for their limbless, burrowing lifestyle in tropical regions.

Examples

  • The family Caeciliidae comprises several species of caecilians found mainly in South America.

  • Scientists study the distribution of the family Caeciliidae to better understand amphibian evolution.

  • The family Caeciliidae consists of unique legless amphibians.

  • I studied the family Caeciliidae in my biology class.

  • Members of the family Caeciliidae are known for their limbless, burrowing lifestyle in tropical regions.

  • Scientists study the distribution of the family Caeciliidae to better understand amphibian evolution.

  • The family Caeciliidae comprises several species of caecilians found mainly in South America.

Synonyms

family Caeciliadae
vsfamily Caeciliidae
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of legless, worm-like amphibians that live mostly underground in tropical regions

is the formal family name identical in scope to the order
Caeciliadae
vsfamily Caeciliidae
  • Specialized
9.9

A family of legless amphibians with long bodies that live underground

refers to the same group but stresses taxonomic equivalence with the order
Caeciliidae
vsfamily Caeciliidae
  • Specialized
9.9

A family of small legless amphibians that look like worms and live underground

focuses on the group's identity as the whole order rather than physical details

Surface Forms

family Caeciliidae singular
families Caeciliidae plural

Morphology

family + Caeciliidae

This noun phrase is fully compositional: 'family' as a taxonomic grouping combined with the taxon name 'Caeciliidae' yields the meaning 'the taxonomic family named Caeciliidae (a group of legless amphibians)'. The construction (family + taxon name) is a regular, predictable pattern in scientific nomenclature and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Family Caeciliidae gets its name from the genus name Caecilia, which comes from an old word meaning 'blind' because these limbless amphibians have very small, hidden eyes. That's why the name points to their blind-looking appearance.