What does carnivory mean?
Carnivory is the noun describing the act or condition of eating flesh — that is, obtaining nourishment from the tissues of other animals. It serves as the counterpart to herbivory (a plant diet) and omnivory (a mixed diet), and it appears most often in scientific writing about nutrition, ecology, and behaviour. Zoologists distinguish degrees of carnivory, from obligate carnivores such as cats, which must eat meat to survive, to facultative ones that take flesh when available. Remarkably, the term extends beyond the animal kingdom: botanists use 'plant carnivory' for species such as Venus flytraps and pitcher plants, which capture and digest insects to supplement nutrients poor soils cannot supply. Though technical in register, the word carries vivid connotations of predation and appetite, making it a precise and memorable choice whenever the topic turns to flesh-eating.
nounThe practice or habit of eating flesh; the state of being carnivorous. In biology, it is used both for animals that consume animal tissue and for plants that trap and digest small organisms.
- The eating of flesh by animals; a flesh-based diet.
- In botany, the trapping and digestion of small animals (typically insects) by carnivorous plants.
"Carnivory in cats is obligate: they cannot obtain all their nutrients from plant matter alone."
"The panda's shift away from strict carnivory is one of evolution's great dietary puzzles."
"Botanists have long been fascinated by the independent origins of carnivory in sundews and pitcher plants."
Rarely pluralized; when it occurs at all, the plural refers to distinct instances or types of flesh-eating across different lineages.
"Researchers compared the carnivories of different insectivorous plants to see how each lineage evolved its traps independently."
Carnivory isn't just for animals — some plants turned the tables and eat meat too.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of carnivory
Carnivory derives from Latin 'caro' (genitive 'carnis'), meaning flesh, combined via the modern scientific formation on the model of 'carnivore' and 'carnivorous'. The same Latin root gives English cognates such as 'carnal', 'incarnate', 'chili con carne', and 'carnival' — the latter originally a feast marking the last chance to eat meat before Lent. The word belongs to the family of scientific terms coined from classical roots, entering general use alongside the biological vocabulary of the nineteenth century.
Related word forms
How carnivory is actually used
Primarily a scientific and formal term, common in zoology, ecology, and botany rather than everyday speech. In ordinary contexts people more often say 'eating meat' or describe an animal as 'a carnivore'.
Easily confused with carnivory
A carnivore is an organism that eats flesh, whereas carnivory is the abstract noun naming the practice or trait of doing so.