ˌ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˈbräd.ə, -rād.ə noun plural
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from neuter plural of vertebratus vertebrate
1. : a major division of animals that is usually a subphylum of Chordata, that comprises bilaterally symmetrical animals with a segmented spinal column or in primitive forms with a persistent notochord, a tubular dorsal nervous system divisible into brain and spinal cord, an anterior head bearing a mouth and the major sense organs, an internal articulated skeleton of bone or cartilage, respiration by gills or lungs, and not more than two pairs of limbs which may be modified as grasping, walking, swimming, or flying organs in different members of the division, and that includes the mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, elasmobranchs, and cyclostomes and sometimes the lancelets — compare acrania
2. in some classifications : chordata