What does "manatee" mean?

Any of several plant-eating marine mammals, of the genus Trichechus, found in tropical regions.

What is a synonym for "manatee"?

Common synonyms include: lamantin, lamantin, manatus, marine animal, sea cow, trichechus manatus.

Manatee

noun

noun ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
Any of several plant-eating marine mammals, of the genus Trichechus, found in tropical regions.
"The ecological importance of the manatee is clear; scientists have demonstrated the dependancy of all components of an ecosystem on one another . . ."
2
sirenian mammal of tropical coastal waters of America; the flat tail is rounded wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

lamantin lamantin manatus marine animal sea cow trichechus manatus

Example

More examples

"An infant manatee rescued off the coast of Florida over the weekend is being treated at Miami Seaquarium."

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish manatí, from a Cariban-language term meaning ‘breast’, ultimately from Proto-Cariban *manatɨ; compare Kari'na manaty, Trió manatï, Apalaí manaty, Akawaio manatï, Pemon manatü, Macushi manatî.

Related phrases

Manatee County sea cow

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.