insect
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɪn.sɛkt/
rhymes: -ɪnsɛkt
Forms: form: insects
Etymology: From Middle French insecte, from Latin īnsectum, from īnsectus (“cut into, cut up, with a notched or divided body”), from perfect passive participle of īnsecō (“I cut into, I cut up”), from in- + secō (“I cut”), from the notion that the insect's body is "cut into" three sections (head, thorax, abdomen). Calque of Ancient Greek ἔντομον (éntomon, “insect”), from ἔντομος (éntomos, “cut into pieces”).
Senses: examples: text: Our shed has several insect infestions, including ants, yellowjackets, and wasps.
text: Nonetheless, some insect prey take advantage of clutter by hiding in it. Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
ref: 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:
glosses: An arthropod (in the Insecta class) characterized by six legs, up to four wings, and a chitinous exoskeleton.
examples: text: The swamp is swarming with every sort of insect.
glosses: Any small arthropod similar to an insect, including spiders, centipedes, millipedes, etc.
examples: text: The manager’s assistant was the worst sort of insect.
glosses: A contemptible or powerless person.
Synonyms: word: bug
word: insect
Hypernyms: word: arthropod
Hyponyms: word: ant
word: antlion
word: aphid
word: barklouse
word: bee
word: beetle
word: blackfly
word: booklouse
word: botfly
word: bug
word: butterfly
word: caddisfly
word: caterpillar
word: chafer
word: chigger
word: cockroach
word: cranefly
word: cricket
word: daddy-long-legs
word: damselfly
word: dobsonfly
word: dragonfly
word: dustywing
word: earwig
word: emmet
word: firebrat
word: fishfly
word: flea
word: fly
word: fritillary
word: gadfly
word: grasshopper
word: grig
word: grub
word: hellgrammite
word: hornet
word: horntail
word: horsefly
word: ichneumon fly
word: katydid
word: lacewing
word: leafhopper
word: locust
word: louse
word: maggot
word: mantis
word: mayfly
word: mosquito
word: moth
word: no-see-um
word: owlfly
word: pismire
word: punkie
word: rock crawler
word: sandfly
word: sawfly
word: scarab
word: screwfly
word: silverfish
word: termite
word: toadbug
word: toebiter
word: treehopper
word: wasp
word: webspinner
word: weevil
word: whitefly
word: wireworm
word: woodworm
word: yellowjacket
Derived terms: angel insect
antiinsect
beneficial insect
coral insect
deinsectization
disinsect
fig insect
ghost insect
insectageddon
insectan
insectarium
insectdom
insected
insect hotel
insect house
insecticidal
insecticide
insectiferous
insectiform
insectile
insectivore
insectivorous
insectkind
insectless
insectlike
insectoid
insectology
insectophobe
insectophobia
insectotoxin
insect powder
insectproof
insect screen
insecty
lac insect
leaf insect
Lord Howe Island stick insect
microinsect
noninsect
Persian insect powder
scale insect
social insect
stick insect
turtle-insect
Related terms: word: arachnid
word: arthropod
word: beetle
word: bug
word: chafer
word: coleopter
word: entomology
word: larva
word: worm
word: :Category:Insects