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The first-known use of zoomorphic in English is a translation of the French word zoomorphique, used in a mid-19th century book on paleography to describe an ornately designed Greek letter in a manuscript from the Middle Ages: “The text commences with a zoomorphic letter, formed of two winged dragons, united by the tails, the open space being ornamented with elegant arabesques, composed of leaves and flowers …” The zoo in zoomorphique comes from the Greek noun zôion, meaning “animal,” and morphique from morphē, meaning “form.” The translation of zoomorphique to zoomorphic made perfect sense given the the existence of a similarly constructed word, anthropomorphic (“having human form”), which made its debut half a century earlier.
Examples of zoomorphic in a Sentence
Jaimie Seaton, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 July 2024
According to Megan Catherine Rose, an Australian researcher who studies the aesthetics and sociology of creepy-cute zoomorphic cyberpets, the toy’s strange design is part of what made the original Furby so memorable.
—Julia Carmel, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2023
Arranged around the monumental marble table, a set of 12 vaguely zoomorphic iron-and-leather dining chairs by Mario Milana layers on the whimsy.
—Elvis Maynard, ELLE Decor, 24 May 2023
If the arrangement of her exquisite zoomorphic sculptures—anacondas, armadillos, caimans, capybaras, jaguars, monkeys, parrots, river dolphins, red squirrels—called to mind a ritual gathering, the image was not accidental.
—Andrea K. Scott, The New Yorker, 24 Dec. 2022
Some Muslims were offended by its zoomorphic motifs.
—Anna Sherman Maxime Fossat, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2022
People also preferred the zoomorphic gestures over more abstract gestures designed to communicate the same concept.
—IEEE Spectrum, 16 Apr. 2021
Farnsworth’s self-description as a wandering animal, trapped in the glass house like Aretaeus’s zoomorphic womb, is all too appropriate given her gendered dismissal.
—Daisy Alioto, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Zoomorphic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zoomorphic. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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