phytivorousadj.
/fʌɪˈtɪv(ə)rəs/, /fᵻˈtɪv(ə)rəs/, U.S. /faɪˈtɪv(ə)rəs/ Now rare.
Of an animal: feeding naturally on plants; herbivorous.
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the world > animals > by eating habits > [adjective] > herbivorous
herbivorous1661
phytivorous1668
phytophagous1797
poephagous1868
phytophagan1890
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. ii. v. §4. 144 Birds may be distinguished by..their food..into..Carnivorous; feeding chiefly on Flesh. Phytivorous; feeding on Vegetables.
1693 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 17 851 All which last are Herbivorous or Phytivorous Animals.
1703 J. Houghton in Coll. Improvem. Husb. (1727) III. 342 The terrestrial [birds] living on dry land; whether carnivorous, feeding chiefly on flesh;..[or] Phytivorous, feeding on vegetables.
1798 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 88 46 I have not found the uric oxide in the urinary concretions of any phytivorous animal.
1833 G. A. Mantell Geol. S.E. Eng. 394 The teeth and jaws of two other phytivorous saurians.
1853 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art (ed. 3) 707 (table) Of which tribe [of animals] all the species are phytivorous, as the Hare.
1921 Amer. Naturalist 55 229 Only a few of the rarer species are phytivorous; the majority are carnivorous, a fact which is recognized by the authorities on nudibranchiate Mollusca.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1668