omnivorous

English

Etymology

From omni- +‎ -vorous; from the Latin omni, all and -vore.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑmˈnɪ.vɝ.əs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: om‧niv‧o‧rous
• Rhymes: -ɪvəɹəs

Adjective

omnivorous (not comparable)

1. Having a diet which is neither exclusively carnivorous nor exclusively herbivorous.
2. (figuratively) Having an interest in a variety of subjects.
   • 1968, Robert Ligon Harrison, Samuel Beckett's Murphy; a critical excursion, page 57:

     The Beckettian progression appears occasionally: while Miss Counihan (static) is an omnivorous reader and Murphy (transitional) a strict non-reader, Cooper is an analphabete.

   • 2003, Simon Winchester, The Meaning of Everything; The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary, New York: Oxford University Press, page 72:

     He was omnivorous in his appetite for knowledge, quite catholic in his range of interests […]

3. (figuratively) All-consuming.

Derived terms

• omnivorousness

Related terms

• omnivore, carnivorous, herbivorous, insectivorous

Translations

having the ability to eat both animal and vegetable food

• Arabic: قَارِت (qārit), كَالِش (kāliš)
• Asturian: omnívoru (ast)
• Basque: omniboro (eu), orojale
• Bulgarian: всеяден (bg) (vsejaden)
• Catalan: omnívor
• Czech: všežravý m
• Esperanto: ĉiovora
• Faroese: altetandi
• Finnish: kaikkiruokainen (fi)
• French: omnivore (fr)
• Georgian: ყველაფრისმჭამელი (q̇velaprismč̣ameli), ყოვლისმშთანთქმელი (q̇ovlismštantkmeli)
• German: allfressend
• Greek: παμφάγος (el) (pamfágos)

  Ancient: παμφάγος (pamphágos)

• Hungarian: mindenevő (hu), omnivor (hu)
• Ingrian: kaikkirookain
• Italian: onnivoro (it)
• Khmer: ដែលស៊ីអាហារគ្រប់ប្រភេទ (daelsiiʼaahaakrupprɑɑpheit)
• Latin: omnivorus
• Malay: maserba
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: altetende (no)

  Nynorsk: altetande

• Polish: wszystkożerny (pl) m
• Portuguese: omnívoro (Portugal), onívoro (pt) (Brazil)
• Russian: всея́дный (ru) (vsejádnyj)
• Spanish: omnívoro (es)
• Swedish: allätande
• Tagalog: tanankainin
• Ukrainian: всеї́дний (vsejídnyj)
• Welsh: hollysol