Chordates

[kawr-deyt] /ˈkɔr deɪt/ Zoology

adjective
1.
belonging or pertaining to the phylum , comprising the true vertebrates and those animals having a notochord, as the lancelets and tunicates.
noun
2.
a chordate animal.
/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

1885, noun and adjective, from Chordata.

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