ichneumon

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin ichneumon, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek ἰχνεύμων (ikhneúmōn, “tracker”)’, from ἴχνος (íkhnos, “track, footstep”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪkˈnjuːmən/

Noun

ichneumon (plural ichneumons)

1. The Egyptian mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon, found in Africa and southern Europe.
   • Template:RQ:Florio Montaigne Essayes
2. The ichneumon wasp.
   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 43:

     Ada's unique Lorelei Underwing had died, paralyzed by some ichneumon that had not been deceived by those clever prominences and fungoid smudges.

Related terms

• ichnology
• ichnogram
• ichneumia

Translations

Herpestes ichneumon

• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: نمس m (nims)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 埃及獴 (Āijí měng)

• Egyptian: (ḫꜣtrw m)
• Finnish: egyptinmungo, faaraorotta
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἰχνεύμων m (ikhneúmōn)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: ichneumon m
• Old English: næderbīta m
• Romanian: ihneumon (ro) m
• Sanskrit: नकुल (sa) m (nakula)
• Telugu: ముంగిస (te) (muṅgisa)
• Welsh: llygoden Ffaro f, llygoden Ffrengig yr Aifft, ichnewmon m

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Latin

Etymology

From ἰχνεύμων (ikhneúmōn, “tracker”)’, from ἴχνος (íkhnos, “track, footstep”).

Noun

ichneumōn m (genitive ichneumōnis); third declension

1. Egyptian mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon
   • ...deinde internecivum bellum cum ichneumone.
     ...and in the next place she has given it war to the death with the ichneumon.

     Pliny the Elder, Natural History, VIII.35

2. ichneumon wasp, ichneumon fly
   • ...mustela et cornix, turtur et pyrallis, ichneumones vespae et phalangia aranei...
     ...the weasel and the crow, the turtle-dove and the pyrallis, ichneumon-flies and spiders...

     Pliny the Elder, Natural History, X.95

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ichneumōn	ichneumōnēs
Genitive	ichneumōnis	ichneumōnum
Dative	ichneumōnī	ichneumōnibus
Accusative	ichneumōnem	ichneumōnēs
Ablative	ichneumōne	ichneumōnibus
Vocative	ichneumōn	ichneumōnēs