# locust
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English locuste, locust, from Anglo-Norman locuste, Middle French locuste, and their source, Latin locusta (“locust, crustacean, lobster”). Doublet of langouste.
The tree sense, originally referring to the carob (compare locust bean), is based on the resemblance of the trees' beanlike seed pods to the insect and is likely a semantic loan from Ancient Greek ἀκρίς (akrís).
The sense in "Mainlander" is a semantic loan from Cantonese 蝗蟲 / 蝗虫 (wong4 cung4), also meaning "locust".

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈləʊ.kəst/
* (US) IPA: /ˈloʊ.kəst/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -əʊkəst, -oʊkəst

### Noun

locust (plural locusts)
* Any of the grasshoppers, often polyphenic and usually swarming, in the family Acrididae that are very destructive to crops and other vegetation, (especially) migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria). [from 14th c.]
* (now historical) A fruit or pod of a carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua). [from 16th c.]
** 1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 9, in The Interesting Narrative, volume I:Among other articles, they brought with them a great quantity of locusts, which are a kind of pulse, sweet and pleasant to the palate, and in shape resembling French beans, but longer.
* Any of various often leguminous trees and shrubs, especially of the genera Robinia and Gleditsia; locust tree. [from 17th c.]
* A cicada. [from 18th c.]
* (Hong Kong, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) A Mainlander.
* (UK, slang, obsolete) A dose of laudanum.
** 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:I took my flogging like a stone. If I had sung, some of the convicts would have given me some lush with a locust in it (laudanum hocussing), and when I was asleep would have given me a crack on the head that would have laid me straight.

#### Usage notes

* Sometimes confused with locus.

#### Derived terms

* African locust (Parkia spp., esp. P. africana)
* American locust (Schistocerca americana)
* Australian plague locust
* bald locust
* black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)
* Bombay locust (Nomadacris succincta)
* bristly locust (Robinia hispida)
* brown locust (Locustana pardalina)
* camel locust (Mantis spp.)
* Carolina locust (Dissosteira carolina)
* cave locust (Stenopelmatidae spp.)
* clammy locust (Robinia viscosa)
* desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria)
* differential locust (Melanoplus differentialis)
* Egyptian locust (Anacridium aegyptium)
* grouse locust (Tetrigidae spp.)
* honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
* hoofed locust
* Italian locust (Calliptamus italicus)
* Kelsey locust (Robina kelseyi)
* kosher locust
* locust bean
* locust borer (Megacyllene robiniae)
* migratory locust (Locusta migratoria)
* mock locust (Amorpha californica)
* Moroccan locust (Dociostaurus maroccanus)
* moss locust, mossy locust (Robinia hispida)
* New Mexican locust, New Mexico locust (Robinia mexicana)
* plague locust (Chortoicetes terminifera, Austroicetes cruciata)
* post locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)
* praying locust (Mantis spp., esp. M. religiosa)
* pygmy locust (Tetrigidae spp.)
* red-legged locust (Melanoplus femur-rubrum)
* red locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata)
* river locust (Amorpha fruticosa)
* Rocky Mountain locust (†Melanoplus spretus)
* rose-flowering locust (Robinia viscosa)
* seventeen-year locusts (Magicicada spp.)
* shipmast locust (Robinia pseudoacacia rectissima)
* spotted locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)
* spur-throated locust (Austracris guttulosa), of Australia
* swamp locust (Gleditsia aquatica)
* sweet locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
* thirteen-year locust (Magicicada spp.)
* thorn locust, thorny locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
* tree locusts (Anacridium spp.)
* water locust (Gleditsia aquatica)
* West Indian locust (Hymenaea courbaril)
* white locust (Ceratonia siliqua)
* yellow locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)

#### Translations

Albanian: karkalec (sq) m
Amharic: አንበጣ (ʾänbäṭa)
Apache:
Western Apache: nagonełchʼiigi
Arabic: جَرَادَة f (jarāda)
Egyptian Arabic: جراد m (garād) (collective), جرادة f (garāda) (singulative)
Hijazi Arabic: جرادة f (jarāda)
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܩܡܨܐ m (qamṣā)
Armenian: մորեխ (hy) (morex)
Aromanian: lãcustã f, gãlãgustã f, scarcaletsu, acridhã f
Azerbaijani: çəyirtkə (az)
Belarusian: саранчу́к m (sarančúk), саранча́ f (sarančá)
Bengali: পঙ্গপাল (bn) (poṅgopal)
Bulgarian: скакале́ц (bg) m (skakaléc)
Burmese: ကျိုင်းကောင် (kyuing:kaung), ကျိုင် (kyuing)
Catalan: llagosta (ca) f
Chechen: цӏоз (cʼoz)
Cherokee: ᎶᎶ (lolo)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 蝗蟲 / 蝗虫 (wong$^4$ cung$^4$)
Dungan: хуончун (huončun)
Hokkien: 草蜢 (zh-min-nan) (chháu-muih / chháu-meh / chháu-meeh / chháu-neh / chháu-nih / chháu-mih / chháu-mé), 蝗蟲 / 蝗虫 (hông-tiông / hông-thiông / hông-thâng)
Mandarin: 蝗蟲 / 蝗虫 (zh) (huángchóng)
Wu: 蝗蟲 / 蝗虫 ($^6$waon-zon)
Czech: saranče (cs) n
Danish: vandregræshoppe c, græshoppe (da) c
Dutch: treksprinkhaan (nl) m, sprinkhaan (nl) m
Egyptian: (znḥm)
Erzya: таста (tasta)
Esperanto: akrido, lokusto (eo)
Estonian: rändtirts
Finnish: kulkusirkka (fi)
Fon: gbokle
French: locuste (fr) f, criquet (fr) m
Galician: langosta f, lagosta (gl) f
Georgian: კალია (ḳalia)
German: Heuschrecke (de) f
Gothic: 𐌸𐍂𐌰𐌼𐍃𐍄𐌴𐌹 f (þramstei)
Greek: ακρίδα (el) f (akrída)
Ancient: ἀκρίς f (akrís)
Hausa: fàra
Hebrew: אַרְבֶּה (he) m (arbé), חָגָב (he) m (khagav)
Hindi: टिड्डी f (ṭiḍḍī)
Hungarian: sáska (hu)
Ido: lokusto (io)
Irish: lócaiste
Italian: locusta (it) f
Japanese: 飛蝗 (ja) (ばった, batta), イナゴ (ja) (いなご, inago)
Kannada: ಮಿಡತೆ (kn) (miḍate)
Kapampangan: durun
Kazakh: шегіртке (şegırtke)
Khmer: កណ្ដូប (km) (kɑndoup) (grasshopper or locust)
Korean: 메뚜기 (ko) (mettugi)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کولە (kule)
Northern Kurdish: kulî (ku), melex (ku)
Kyrgyz: чегиртке (ky) (cegirtke)
Lao: ຕັກແຕນ (tak tǣn), ງ້ວງ (ngūang)
Latin: locusta f
Latvian: sisenis
Lithuanian: skėrys (lt) m
Macedonian: скакулец m (skakulec)
Malagasy: dongara (mg)
Malay: belalang (ms) (grasshopper or locust)
Malayalam: വെട്ടുകിളി (veṭṭukiḷi)
Maltese: ġurat m
Manchu: ᠰᡝᠪᠰᡝᡥᡝᡵᡳ (sebseheri)
Maori: māwhitiwhiti, rangataua, pākaurere
Mongolian: царцаахай (mn) (carcaaxaj), голио (mn) (golio)
Navajo: wóóneeshchʼįįdii, wóóneeshchʼįįdii nahachaʼígíí
Norwegian: gresshoppe m
Old English: græsstapa m, græshoppa m
Old High German: hewispranga f
Old Javanese: walaṅ
Ossetian:
Digor: мӕдух (mædux)
Iron: мӕтых (mætyx)
Panamint: tsapitta
Pashto: ملخ (ps) m (moláx)
Persian: ملخ (fa) (malax), میگ (fa) (mayg)
Plautdietsch: Heischrakj f
Polish: szarańcza (pl) f
Portuguese: gafanhoto (pt) m
Punjabi: ਟਿੱਡੀ (pa) f (ṭiḍḍī)
Romanian: lăcustă (ro) f
Russian: саранча́ (ru) f (sarančá), саранчу́к (ru) m (sarančúk), сарана́ (ru) f (saraná) (dialectal)
Santali: ᱯᱳᱦᱳ (poho)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: скакавац m, цврчак m, зрикавац m
Roman: skakavac (sh) m, cvrčak (sh) m, zrikavac (sh) m
Slovak: saranča f
Slovene: kobilica (sl) f
Southern Sami: kraesienjålhtja
Spanish: langosta (es) f, tucura m
Swahili: nzige (sw)
Swedish: gräshoppa (sv) c, vandringsgräshoppa (sv) c
Tagalog: balang
Tajik: малах (tg) (malax)
Tamil: வெட்டுக்கிளி (ta) (veṭṭukkiḷi)
Telugu: మిడత (te) (miḍata)
Thai: ปาทังกา (th) (bpaa-tang-gâa)
Tibetan: ཚ་ག་བ (tsha ga ba)
Tigrinya: ኣንበጣ (ʾanbäṭa)
Tocharian B: śalāp
Tswana: tsie
Turkish: çekirge (tr)
Turkmen: çekirtge
Ugaritic: 𐎛𐎗𐎁𐎊 (ỉrby)
Ukrainian: сарана́ f (saraná)
Urdu: ٹڈی f (ṭiḍḍī)
Uyghur: چېكەتكە (chëketke)
Uzbek: chigirtka (uz), malax (uz)
Vietnamese: châu chấu (vi)
Welsh: locust m, locustiaid m pl
Woiwurrung: na lang na lang
Wolof: njéeréer bi
Yiddish: היישעריק m (heysherik)
Zazaki: mele (diq)
Zhuang: duzruemh :

### Verb

locust (third-person singular simple present locusts, present participle locusting, simple past and past participle locusted)
* (intransitive) To come in a swarm.
** 1875, Alfred Tennyson, Queen Mary: A Drama, London: Henry S. King & Co., →OCLC, (please specify the page):This Philip and the black-faced swarms of Spain, The hardest, cruellest people in the world, Come locusting upon us, eat us up, Confiscate lands, goods, money […]

### References

* ↑ “locust”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “locust (n.2)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

### Anagrams

* clouts

## Middle English
### Noun

locust
* Alternative form of locuste