ruminant meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

ruminant

adj

/ˈɹuːmɪnənt/

Etymology From Latin rūmināns, rūminantem, present participle of rūminārī (“to chew the cud, ruminate”), from rūmen (“throat, gullet, rumen (first stomach of a ruminant)”).

Chewing cud.

Pondering; ruminative.

“I wonder what a paradox is,” remarked the priest in a ruminant manner.

Derived terms: nonruminant, preruminant, ruminantly

ruminant

noun

Etymology From Latin rūmināns, rūminantem, present participle of rūminārī (“to chew the cud, ruminate”), from rūmen (“throat, gullet, rumen (first stomach of a ruminant)”).

Any artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud in the suborder Ruminantia, such as cattle or deer.

Flesh behind steel and glass is unprotected From enemies that whisper to the blood; The scratch forgotten is the scratch infected; The ruminant, reason, chews a poisoned cud.1941, Theodore Roethke, “Prognosis”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC, page 5:

Synonyms: ruminant
Derived terms: nonruminant, preruminant, ruminantly
Related terms: ruminate
Hypernyms: herbivore, mammal
Hyponyms: cow, deer, sheep, cattle, goat, giraffe, bison, yak, water buffalo, wildebeest, gnu, gazelle, antelope, pronghorn, nilgai, camel, alpaca, llama