What does anourous mean?
Anourous is an adjective meaning tailless — that is, having no tail. It derives ultimately from the ancient Greek word for tail and belongs firmly to the vocabulary of zoology, where it describes animals that naturally lack this appendage. Its most familiar application is to adult frogs and toads, which famously lose the tails they possess as tadpoles during metamorphosis, emerging as anourous adults. Because it is a specialist term, anourous appears almost exclusively in scientific literature, anatomy texts, and natural-history writing rather than in general conversation; writers addressing a broad audience would more likely simply say 'tailless'. The word pairs conceptually with its opposite, caudate or tailed, and sits alongside related terms such as anuran, the noun denoting members of the order Anura. For readers interested in the classical roots of scientific language, anourous offers a compact example of how Greek morphology continues to shape modern biological nomenclature, preserving a two-thousand-year-old description of one of nature's most distinctive transformations.
adjectiveLacking a tail; tailless. The term is chiefly used in zoology to describe animals, especially amphibians such as frogs and toads, that have no tail.
- Having no tail; tailless (used especially in zoology).
"Frogs are anourous as adults, though their tadpoles begin life with prominent tails."
"Adult frogs are anourous, having absorbed their tails during metamorphosis."
"The museum's comparative anatomy display contrasted anourous amphibians with long-tailed reptiles."
Every frog you've ever seen is living proof of the word 'anourous' — it literally means 'no tail', straight from ancient Greek.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of anourous
Anourous comes from the Greek prefix a- ('without') combined with oura ('tail'), so the word literally means 'tailless'. It entered scientific Latin usage as zoologists adopted Greek-derived terminology for classifying animals, giving rise to related terms such as Anura, the order name for frogs and toads, whose members are characteristically anourous as adults. The same Greek root for tail underlies other biological terms, including urodele, used for tailed amphibians such as newts and salamanders.
How anourous is actually used
A rare, technical term found mainly in zoological and scientific writing rather than everyday conversation.
Easily confused with anourous
Anuran is primarily a noun referring to a member of the order Anura (frogs and toads), while anourous is an adjective describing any animal as being without a tail.