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Glite Dictionary
family Carcharhinidae

family Carcharhinidae

9.8
A group of sharks like tiger and bull sharks that live mostly in warm seas
  • noun
  • /ˈfæmɪli kɑrˈkɑrɪnɪdeɪ/
  • Specialized
: familia Carcharhinidae
  • The family Carcharhinidae contains many well-known sharks, such as the bull shark and tiger shark.

Examples

  • Members of the family Carcharhinidae are commonly found in warm, tropical seas around the world.

  • Marine biologists study the family Carcharhinidae to understand shark diversity and adaptations.

  • The family Carcharhinidae includes many species of sharks.

  • Sharks from the family Carcharhinidae are often found in warm waters.

  • Marine biologists study the family Carcharhinidae to understand shark diversity and adaptations.

  • Members of the family Carcharhinidae are commonly found in warm, tropical seas around the world.

  • The family Carcharhinidae contains well-known sharks like tiger sharks and bull sharks.

Synonyms

Carcharhinidae
vsfamily Carcharhinidae
  • Specialized
9.9

A family of sharks found in warm seas, including tiger sharks

is the same meaning but adds an explicit taxonomic label

Surface Forms

family Carcharhinidae singular
families Carcharhinidae plural

Morphology

family + Carcharhinidae

This is a straightforward taxonomic construction: 'family' (a scientific grouping) combined with the taxon name 'Carcharhinidae' yields 'the family called Carcharhinidae (a group of sharks)'. A B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings can directly derive that this refers to the taxonomic family of sharks, and such naming patterns are cross-linguistically regular.

Etymology

Family Carcharhinidae may come from old Greek words behind the scientific name Carcharhinus, where carchar- suggests 'sharp' (as with teeth). So the name brings to mind sharp-toothed, fast sharks, which is why it is used for the group of sharks like the tiger and bull sharks.