Zoonyms

A zoonym is a name used in natural language to refer to an animal. Unlike scientific names, which follow standardized binomial nomenclature, zoonyms are vernacular or common names that people use in everyday speech, literature, and media. The term covers names for individual species as well as for broader animal groups and often varies across languages and dialects.

Zoonyms include widely used common names (dog, cat, lion), regional or dialectal terms, borrowed forms from other languages, and descriptive names based on appearance or behavior. They can be culturally specific; for example, a species may have distinct names in different communities, and new zoonyms can arise from media, technology, or ethnobiological knowledge.

Zoonyms are distinct from scientific names, which identify taxa using Latin binomials. The same animal may have several zoonyms across languages, and a single zoonym can refer to multiple related species in informal use, leading to ambiguity. Lexicographers and linguists study zoonyms to understand language, culture, and human relationships with animals.

The study of zoonyms, zoonymy, or zoonymics, overlaps with ethnobiology, lexicography, and anthropology. Dictionaries and language corpora document zoonyms, while linguistic analysis considers semantics, etymology, and regional variation. Understanding zoonyms supports communication about wildlife, conservation, and ecological knowledge.