# termite
## English
### Etymology

From French termite, which is from Latin termites, plural of termes.
Also possibly a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *term- (“drill”).

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈtɜː(ɹ).maɪt/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)maɪt

### Noun

termite (plural termites)
* A white-bodied, wood-consuming insect of the infraorder Isoptera, in the order Blattodea.
** 1802, Francis William Blagdon, Modern Discoveries; or, a Collection of facts and observations, volume IV, page 162:Linnæus describes this insect under the Latin name of Termes; and citizen Cuvier speaks of it under that of Termites. The vulgar call it by that of white ant, or fourmi vaguevague. The termites divide themselves into societies: each society builds itself a next, and each nest belongs to an innumerable quantity of these insects, who acknowledge for their chiefs a king and a queen.
* A contemptible person.
** 2019, Justin Blackburn, The Bisexual Christian Suburban Failure Enlightening Bipolar Blues, page 31:This two faced termite has the nerve to talk.

#### Synonyms

* (white-bodied, wood-consuming insect): termes, white ant, wood ant

#### Derived terms

* compass termite
* dampwood termite
* Formosan termite
* magnetic termite
* termite bug
* termite of the sea
* turmite

#### Translations
### Verb

termite (third-person singular simple present termites, present participle termiting, simple past and past participle termited)
* (intransitive) Of a chimpanzee: to catch termites by inserting a stick or vine into their nest and waiting for them to climb up it.

#### Derived terms

* cathedral termite
* compass termite
* dampwood termite
* drywood termite
* magnetic termite
* meridian termite
* spinifex termite
* subterranean termite
* termitarium
* termite bug
* termite mound
* termite of the sea
* termiticide
* turmite

### See also

* jumping bristletails, archaeognathans (Archaeognatha)
* cockroaches and termites, blattodeans (Blattodea)
* beetles, coleopterans (Coleoptera)
* earwigs, dermapterans (Dermaptera)
* flies, dipterans (Diptera)
* webspinners, embiopterans (Embioptera)
* mayflies, ephemeropterans (Ephemeroptera)
* ice crawlers, grylloblattodeans (Grylloblattodea)
* true bugs, hemipterans (Hemiptera)
* hymenopterans (ants, bees, wasps, etc.) (Hymenoptera)
* butterflies and moths, lepidopterans (Lepidoptera)
* mantises, mantodeans (Mantodea)
* mantophasmids (Mantophasmatodea)
* scorpionflies, mecopterans (Mecoptera)
* megalopterans (alderflies, dobsonflies, fishflies, etc.) (Megaloptera)
* neuropterans (antlions, lacewings, mantidflies, etc.) (Neuroptera)
* damselflies and dragonflies, odonatans (Odonata)
* orthopterans (crickets, grasshoppers, katydids, etc.) (Orthoptera)
* stick insects, phasmatodeans (Phasmatodea)
* stoneflies, plecopterans (Plecoptera)
* barklice and booklice, psocodeans (Psocodea)
* snakeflies, raphidiopterans (Raphidioptera)
* fleas, siphonapterans (Siphonaptera)
* strepsipterans (Strepsiptera)
* thrips, thysanopterans (Thysanoptera)
* caddis flies, trichopterans (Trichoptera)
* zorapterans (Zoraptera)
* silverfish, zygentomans (Zygentoma)

### Further reading

* termite on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* emitter

## French
### Etymology

Back-formation of termites. From Late Latin termites (plural of termes), late variant of the Classical Latin tarmes (“woodworm”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tɛʁ.mit/

### Noun

termite m or f (plural termites)
* termite (white-bodied, wood-consuming insect)
    Synonym: fourmi blanche
** 1798, Georges Cuvier, Tableau élémentaire de l'histoire naturelle des animaux, page 479:Les termites parfaits ont le corps et la tête applatis horizontalement ; trois articles à tous les doigts. Leurs antennes, en forme de chapelet, les distinguent assez des autres genres de cet ordre. […] 1. Le termite belliqueux. (Termes fatale.) Est l’espèce la plus grande et la plus commune. […] 2. Le termite atroce. (Termes arda.) Noir, à pieds pâles, et 3. Le termite mordant. (Termes mordax.) Noir, à pieds de même couleur.(please add an English translation of this quotation)

#### Usage notes

While most dictionaries give termite as masculine, it is commonly used as a feminine noun, due to the ending -ite.

#### Descendants

* → Romanian: termită

### Further reading

* “termite”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Italian
### Etymology

From Late Latin termitem.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈtɛr.mi.te/
** Rhymes: -ɛrmite
** Hyphenation: tèr‧mi‧te
* (deprecated) IPA: /terˈmi.te/
** Rhymes: -ite
** Hyphenation: ter‧mì‧te

### Noun

termite f (plural termiti)
* termite (white-bodied, wood-consuming insect)

### Further reading

* termite in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

### Anagrams

* metrite, rimette, temerti

## Latin
### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈter.mi.te/, [ˈt̪ɛrmɪt̪ɛ]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈter.mi.te/, [ˈt̪ɛrmit̪e]

### Noun

termite m
* ablative singular of termes