an·i·mal 
(ănə-məl)
(ănə-məl)n.
1. Any of numerous multicellular eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Metazoa (or Animalia) that ingest food rather than manufacturing it themselves and are usually able to move about during at least part of their life cycle. Sponges, jellyfishes, flatworms, mollusks, arthropods, and vertebrates are animals.
2. An animal organism other than a human, especially a mammal.
3. A person who behaves in a bestial or brutish manner.
4. A human considered with respect to his or her physical nature, as opposed to rational or spiritual nature.
5. A person having a specified aptitude or set of interests: "that rarest of musical animals, an instrumentalist who is as comfortable on a podium with a stick as he is playing his instrument" (Lon Tuck).
adj.
1. Relating to, characteristic of, or derived from an animal or animals, especially when not human: animal cells; animal welfare.
2. Relating to the physical as distinct from the rational or spiritual nature of people: animal instincts and desires.
[Middle English, from Latin, from animāle, neuter of animālis, living, from anima, soul; see anə- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]