termite

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See also: Termite and térmite

English

termites

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(key): /ˈtɜː(ɹ).maɪt/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)maɪt

Noun

termite (plural termites)

  1. 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.
  2. 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

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

termite (third-person singular simple present termites, present participle termiting, simple past and past participle termited)

  1. (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

Further reading

Anagrams

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Noun

termite m or f (plural termites)

  1. 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

Italian

Etymology

From Late Latin termitem.

Pronunciation

Noun

termite f (plural termiti)

  1. termite (white-bodied, wood-consuming insect)

Further reading

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

Anagrams

Latin

Pronunciation

Noun

termite m

  1. ablative singular of termes
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