ant

English

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ant

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• ante, ampte (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English ampte, amte, emete, amete, from Old English ǣmete (“ant”), from Proto-West Germanic *āmaitijā (literally “biting-thing, cutter”), from Proto-Germanic *ē- (“off, away”) + *maitaną (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂y- (“to cut”). Cognate with Scots emmot (“ant”), dialectal Dutch emt, empt (“ant”), German Ameise and Emse (“ant”). See also emmet.

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation, General Australian) enPR: ănt, IPA^(key): /ænt/
• (New Zealand) enPR: ănt, IPA^(key): /ɛnt/
• (Received Pronunciation, obsolete) enPR: änt, IPA^(key): /ɑːnt/
• (æ-tensing) IPA^(key): , ,

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ænt
• Homophone: aunt (in some accents)

Noun

ant (plural ants)

1. Any of various insects in the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera, typically living in large colonies composed almost entirely of flightless females.
   • 2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects ”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32:

     The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters […] . But the priciest items in the market aren't the armadillo steaks or even the bluefin tuna. That would be the frozen chicatanas – giant winged ants – at around $500 a kilo.

2. (Internet) A Web spider.

Synonyms

• (insect): emmet (archaic), pismire (archaic), antmire, anty-mire (colloquial)

Hyponyms

• (insect in Formicidae): army ant, black garden ant, bull ant, carpenter ant, fire ant, garden ant, honey-pot ant, leafcutter ant, pharaoh ant, piss ant, red ant, sauba ant, thief ant, wood ant

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• ant- (prefix)
• -ant (suffix)
• Appendix:Animals
• army
• colony
• nest
• Appendix:English collective nouns

Verb

ant (third-person singular simple present ants, present participle anting, simple past and past participle anted)

1. (ornithology) To rub insects, especially ants, on one's body, perhaps to control parasites or clean feathers.
   • 1974, Eloise Potter and Doris Hauser, “Relationship of anting and sunbathing to molting in wild birds”, in The Auk‎, volume 91, archived from the original on 6 June 2011, page 538:

     Wild birds tend to ant and sunbathe most frequently during periods of high humidity, particularly right after heavy or prolonged rainfall in summer.

References

Anagrams

• NAT, NTA, Nat, Nat., TAN, TNA, Tan, nat, tan

Breton

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

ant m

1. furrow

Catalan

Alternative forms

• dant (obsolete)

Etymology

From Andalusian Arabic لمط (lámṭ), presumably by misdivision.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian)

Noun

ant m (plural ants)

1. elk, moose

Further reading

• “ant” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Crimean Tatar

Noun

ant (accusative , plural )

1. oath

Declension

Synonyms

• yemin

References

• Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎, Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Egyptian

Romanization

ant

1. Manuel de Codage transliteration of ꜥnt.

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French entre (“between”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ãt/

Preposition

ant

1. between

Lithuanian

Alternative forms

• añ (dialectal)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Lithuanian añt, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-t. Compare Sudovian an.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Preposition

añt (with genitive)

1. on

   Jis sėdi ant kėdės. ― He sits on a chair.

References

Further reading

• “ant”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2024
• “ant”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2024
• Vytautas Ambrazas (2006) “Prepositions with the genitive case”, in Lithuanian Grammar, 2nd revised edition, →ISBN, page 407

Meroitic

Romanization

ant

1. Romanization of 𐦠𐦩𐦴

Middle Welsh

Alternative forms

• aant

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aːnt/

Verb

ant

1. third-person plural present indicative of mynet

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑːnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːnt
• Hyphenation: ant

Verb

ant

1. past participle of ane
2. past participle common of ane
3. past participle neuter of ane

Anagrams

• nat, tan

Scots

Verb

ant (third-person singular simple present ants, present participle antin, simple past antit, past participle antit)

1. Shetland form of aint

References

• “ant, v.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish آند (and), from Proto-Turkic *ānt (“oath”). Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰦 (nt), Azerbaijani and, etc. Also, Cognate to Southern Altai андык- (andïk-, “to prove”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ant

Noun

ant (definite accusative andı, plural antlar)

1. oath

Declension

Synonyms

• kasem
• yemin

Turkmen

Noun

ant (definite accusative , plural )

1. oath

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Vilamovian

Etymology

From Middle High German ente alongside ant, from Old High German enita alongside anut, from Proto-West Germanic *anad. Compare Dutch eend, German Ente.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aːnt/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

ȧnt f (plural anta)

1. duck