Revised 2010

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animalishadjective

Meaning & use
Etymology
Pronunciation
Frequency

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Quotations

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Factsheet

What does the adjective animalish mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the adjective animalish, one of which is labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

See meaning & use

How common is the adjective animalish?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1810	0.004
1820	0.0045
1830	0.0048
1840	0.0048
1850	0.0049
1860	0.0018
1870	0.0018
1880	0.0016
1890	0.0015
1900	0.0015
1910	0.0014
1920	0.0016
1930	0.0018
1940	0.0019
1950	0.0017
1960	0.0016
1970	0.0012
1980	0.0008
1990	0.0009
2000	0.001
2010	0.0012

See frequency

How is the adjective animalish pronounced?

British English

/ˈanᵻməlɪʃ/

AN-i-muh-lish

/ˈanᵻml̩ɪʃ/

AN-i-muhl-ish

U.S. English

/ˈænəm(ə)lɪʃ/

AN-uhm-uh-lish

See pronunciation

Where does the adjective animalish come from?

Earliest known use

mid 1600s

The earliest known use of the adjective animalish is in the mid 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for animalish is from 1653, in the writing of J. Böhme.

animalish is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: animal n., -ish suffix1.

See etymology

Nearby entries

animal grab, n.1894–
animal heat, n.1603–
animal hemisphere, n.1879–
animalhood, n.1863–
animal husbandry, n.1851–
Animalia, n.1803–
animalic, adj.a1676–
animaliculture, n.1879–
animalier, n.1884–
animalillio, n.1647
animalish, adj.1653–
animalism, n.1798–
animalist, n.1800–
animalistic, adj.1739–
animality, n.1615–
animalization, n.1733–
animalize, v.1617–
animalized, adj.1748–
animalizing, n.1781–
animalizing, adj.1617–
animal kingdom, n.1650–

Browse more nearby entries

Meaning & use

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Entry history for animalish, adj.

animalish, adj. was revised in November 2010

animalish, adj. was last modified in July 2023

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into animalish, adj. in July 2023.

Earlier versions of animalish, adj. were published in:

OED First Edition (1884)

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OED Second Edition (1989)

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View animalish, adj. in Second Edition

Cite

Chicago

Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “”, . <>

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MLA9

“”. Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, , <>

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