termite
English
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Coptotermes_formosanus_shiraki_USGov_k8204-7.jpg/220px-Coptotermes_formosanus_shiraki_USGov_k8204-7.jpg)
Etymology
French termite, which is from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin termites (three syllables), plural of termes.
Also possible a derivation from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *term- (“drill”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 307: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈtɜː(ɹ).maɪt/
- 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, vol. 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.
- 1802, Francis William Blagdon, Modern Discoveries; or, a Collection of facts and observations, vol. IV, page 162
Synonyms
Translations
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Verb
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- (intransitive) Of a chimpanzee: to catch termites by inserting a stick or vine into their nest and waiting for them to climb up it.
Further reading
Anagrams
French
Etymology
Back-formation from termites. From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Late Latin termites (plural of termes), late variant of the Classical (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin tarmes (“woodworm”).
Pronunciation
Noun
termite m or f (plural termites)
- termite (white-bodied, wood-consuming insect)
- 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.
- 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. […]
- 1798, Georges Cuvier, Tableau élémentaire de l'histoire naturelle des animaux, page 479
Usage notes
While most dictionaries give termite has masculine, it is commonly used as a feminine noun, due to the ending -ite.
Synonyms
Further reading
- “termite”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Etymology
From Late Latin termes, termitēs.
Pronunciation
Noun
termite m (plural termiti)
- termite (white-bodied, wood-consuming insect)
Anagrams
Further reading
- termite in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈter.mi.te/, [ˈt̪ɛrmɪt̪ɛ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈter.mi.te/, [ˈt̪ɛrmit̪e]
Noun
(deprecated template usage) termite m
- English terms borrowed from French
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)maɪt
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English intransitive verbs
- en:Termites
- French back-formations
- French terms derived from Late Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French feminine nouns
- French nouns with multiple genders
- fr:Insects
- Italian terms derived from Late Latin
- Italian 3-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Italian lemmas
- Italian nouns
- Italian countable nouns
- Italian masculine nouns
- it:Insects
- Latin 3-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin noun forms