Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
order Pelecaniformes

order Pelecaniformes

9.2
A group of water birds like pelicans, cormorants, and gannets that catch fish
  • noun
  • /ˈɔrdər ˌpɛlɪkənˈfɔrmiz/
  • Specialized
: orden Pelecaniformes
  • Students studied the anatomical features unique to the order Pelecaniformes during their ornithology class.

Examples

  • The order Pelecaniformes contains birds that are skilled at catching fish in water.

  • Pelicans are perhaps the most well-known members of the order Pelecaniformes.

  • The order Pelecaniformes includes various aquatic birds.

  • Did you know that the order Pelecaniformes contains pelicans?

  • Pelicans are perhaps the most well-known members of the order Pelecaniformes.

  • Students studied the anatomical features unique to the order Pelecaniformes during their ornithology class.

  • The order Pelecaniformes contains birds that are skilled at catching fish in water.

Synonyms

Pelecaniformes
vsorder Pelecaniformes
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of large water birds like pelicans and cormorants

focuses on aquatic habitat rather than size and groups related species

Surface Forms

order Pelecaniformes singular
order Pelecaniformes plural

Morphology

order + Pelecaniformes

The phrase is fully compositional: 'order' as a taxonomic rank combined with the proper taxon name 'Pelecaniformes' yields the meaning 'the taxonomic order called Pelecaniformes.' If a B1 learner knows both constituent words, they can directly derive this meaning because the pattern 'order + taxon name' is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common way to name biological groups.

Etymology

Order Pelecaniformes comes from the Greek word pelekan for 'pelican' and the ending -iformes that means 'like'. So it literally says 'pelican-like' and was used because pelicans and similar fish-eating water birds are the main members of this group today.