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Glite Dictionary
🐦 Unable to fly 🐧 A flightless animal
nonvolant

nonvolant

9.5
Not able to fly
  • adjective
  • /nɒnˈvɒlənt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : no volador
  • The nonvolant reptiles in the petting zoo fascinated the children, who enjoyed observing their behavior.

Examples

  • Because of the northern flying squirrel's unique mode of locomotion and its constraints, landscapes that are functionally connected for it are also permeable to most (if not all) nonvolant vertebrates in forest communities.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Whereas the community structure of primates, understory birds, and some insects seems strongly affected by patch size, small nonvolant mammals and some butterflies are apparently more sensitive to the vegetation structure around the forest fragments than to island size.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Many species of nonvolant birds, such as ostriches and emus, have adapted to life on the ground.

  • In this ecological study, researchers noted that the nonvolant mammals in the area play a crucial role in the ecosystem.

Synonyms

flightless
vsnonvolant
7 3.9

A bird or insect that cannot fly, such as a penguin

applies to any organism unable to fly not just birds or insects

Antonyms

volant
  • Specialized
9.9

With wings spread out as if flying

How Flightless

wingless
2 3.5
nonvolant
  • Specialized
9.5
grounded
4.4

Surface Forms

nonvolant positive

Morphology

nonvolant = volant (semi-transparent) = non + volant

The meaning is compositionally 'not' + 'volant' (not flying), but 'volant' is a rare adjective in modern English so learners may not recognise it easily.

Etymology

Nonvolant comes from the prefix non- 'not' and the part volant from Latin volare 'to fly'. You can also see this root in the English word volatile, which originally meant 'able to fly', so nonvolant simply means 'not able to fly'.