chordate

[kawr-deyt] /ˈkɔr deɪt/
adjective
1.
belonging or pertaining to the phylum Chordata, comprising the true vertebrates and those animals having a notochord, as the lancelets and tunicates.
noun
2.
a chordate animal.
Origin
1885-90; see Chordata
Examples from the web for chordates
  • Some closely linked chordates and hemichordates, but that idea is now rejected.
British Dictionary definitions for chordates

chordate

/ˈkɔːˌdeɪt/
noun
1.
any animal of the phylum Chordata, including the vertebrates and protochordates, characterized by a notochord, dorsal tubular nerve cord, and pharyngeal gill slits
adjective
2.
of, relating to, or belonging to the Chordata
Word Origin
C19: from Medieval Latin chordata; see chord1 + -ate1
Word Origin and History for chordates

chordate

1885, noun and adjective, from Chordata.

chordates in Medicine

chordate chor·date (kôr'dāt', -dĭt)
n.
An animal of the phylum Chordata, which includes all vertebrates.

chordates in Science
chordate
  (kôr'dāt')   
Any of a large group of animals of the phylum Chordata, having at some stage of development a notochord (flexible spinal column) and nerve cord running along the back, a tail stretching above and behind the anus, and gill slits. Chordates probably evolved before the Cambrian Period and are related to the hemichordates, echinoderms, and chaetognaths. The vertebrates, tunicates, and cephalochordates are the three main groups of chordates.
chordates in Culture
chordates [(kawr-dayts, kawr-duhts)]

Animals that have a central nerve like the human spinal cord.

Note: Chordates make up a phylum in the animal kingdom that includes all the vertebrates, along with some primitive wormlike sea animals. (See Linnean classification.)