invertebrate, a. and n.
(ɪnˈvɜːtɪbrət)
[ad. mod.L. invertebrāt-us, in neuter pl. Invertebrata, corresp. to F. invertébrés (see below), f. L. in- (in-3) + vertebra joint, esp. of the spine: see vertebrate.
The classification of Vertebrate and Invertebrate Animals was primarily due to Lamarck; but in his Système des animaux sans vertèbres, 1801, he does not use the word invertébrés, which occurs however in his Philosophie Zoologique of 1809; it had been used by Cuvier and Duméril in 1805 (Cuvier Le{cced}ons d'Anatomie compar. I, Table I), and by Duméril, in 1806, in his Zoologie analytique, 3, Table I.]
A. adj. Not having a backbone or spinal column.
| 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 488/1 Invertebrate animals are divided by Lamarck into two great groups, which he calls ‘animaux apathiques’, and ‘animaux sensibles’. 1858 Geikie Hist. Boulder v. 72 The higher tribes of the invertebrate animals. 1877 W. Thomson Voy. Challenger I. i. 7 Even at that depth the invertebrate sub-kingdoms are still fairly represented. |
b. fig. Without moral ‘backbone’; wanting strength, firmness, or consistency.
| 1879 Fortn. Rev. No. 187. 910 Running a man whose political creed is vague and invertebrate. 1889 Times 29 Mar. 9/4 The House..has voted for an invertebrate measure supported by flabby arguments. 1896 Eclectic Mag. Apr. 507 Nor is the affection for the invertebrate parent secured by the indulgences. |
B. n. An animal without a backbone or spinal column; any animal not belonging to the vertebrate sub-kingdom.
| 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. xlv. 239 In this particular differing from the majority of Invertebrates. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 123/2 Wall-cases and floor-cases are best suited for the display of the vertebrate classes, and table-cases for the invertebrates. 1880 Haughton Phys. Geog. iii. 78 Animals of higher organisation than the Invertebrates. |
b. fig. A man without strength of character or principles.
| 1869 Spectator 22 May 620 Indifference as to the fate of such political invertebrates. 1884 Pall Mall G. 29 Feb. 1/1 Nerveless invertebrates..whose only conception of statesmanship is that of divining how the cat will jump. |
Hence invertebrateness (ɪnˈvɜːtɪbrətnɪs), the quality of being invertebrate.
| 1884 Punch 23 Feb. 87 There's no spell In sheer invertebrateness. |