termite

termite

See also: Termite and térmite

English

termites

Etymology

From French termite, which is from Latin termites (three syllables), 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, 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.

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

• (white-bodied, wood-consuming insect): termes, white ant, wood ant

Translations

insect

Aklanon: anay Arabic: أَرَضَة‎ f (ʾaraḍa) Armenian: տերմիտ (hy) (termit) Assamese: উঁই (ũi) Banjarese: urup Basque: termita Bau Bidayuh: tirupuod Belarusian: тэрмі́т m (termít) Bikol Central: aloy (bcl) Bulgarian: термит m (termit) Catalan: tèrmit m Cebuano: anay Central Melanau: belasuwuk Chamicuro: ma'lus̈hana Chepang: क्र्राः Chinese: Mandarin: 白蟻／白蚁 (zh) (báiyǐ) Czech: termit (cs) m Danish: termitter c Dutch: termiet (nl) m Esperanto: termito Estonian: termiit Ewe: baba Finnish: termiitti (fi) French: termite (fr) m Galician: térmite m Georgian: თერმიტი (termiṭi) German: Termite (de) f Greek: τερμίτες (el) (termítes) Hausa: gàrā (ha) Hebrew: טרמיט‎ Hiligaynon: anay Hindi: दीमक (hi) f (dīmak) Hungarian: termesz (hu) Icelandic: maur (is) m Ido: termito (io) Ilocano: anay Indonesian: rayap (id), anai-anai, semut putih (id) Italian: termite (it) m Japanese: シロアリ (ja) (shiro-ari), 白蟻 (ja) (しろあり, shiro-ari) Javanese: laron (jv) Kalagan: anay Kannada: ಗೆದ್ದಲು (kn) (geddalu) Kapampangan: ane Kazakh: аққұмырсқа (aqqūmyrsqa) Khmer: កណ្ដៀរ (km) (kɑndiə) Kikuyu: mũthũa class 3, nguya class 9/10 (winged) Kimaragang: tantanai Korean: 흰개미 (huin'gaemi) Lubuagan Kalinga: lakoy Malagasy: votry (mg) Malay: anai-anai, (winged, alate types) kelekatu Malayalam: ചിതൽ (ml) (cital) Mansaka: anay Navajo: tsinaʼayąʼii Norwegian: termitt m Occitan: termit (oc) m, formiga blanca f Persian: موریانه‎ (fa) Punjabi: ਸਓਂਕ f (saoṅka) Polish: termit (pl) m Portuguese: cupim (pt) m, térmite (pt) m Romanian: termită (ro) f Russian: терми́т (ru) m (termít) Slovak: termit m Slovene: termit (sl) m Spanish: termes (es) m, comején (es) m, termita f Sundanese: ᮛᮤᮑᮥᮂ (rinyuh) Swahili: mchwa (sw) Swedish: termit (sv) c Tagal Murut: bubuk Tagalog: anay (tl), bukbok Tamil: கறையான் (ta) (kaṟaiyāṉ) Tausug: anay Telugu: చెద (te) (ceda) Thai: ปลวก (th) (bplùuak) Tyap: cincai Ukrainian: термі́т m (termít) Vietnamese: mối (vi) Volapük: tärmit West Coast Bajau: anei-anei Wolof: max mi (wo) Zazaki: mermor

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.

Further reading

• termite on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• emitter

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French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛʁ.mit/

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.

Usage notes

While most dictionaries give termite has masculine, it is commonly used as a feminine noun, due to the ending -ite.

Descendants

• → Romanian: termită

Further reading

• “termite”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Italian

Etymology

From Late Latin termitem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛr.mi.te/
• Rhymes: -ɛrmite
• Hyphenation: tèr‧mi‧te

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

• metrite, rimette, temerti

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈter.mi.te/, [ˈt̪ɛrmɪt̪ɛ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈter.mi.te/, [ˈt̪ɛrmit̪e]

Noun

termite m

1. ablative singular of termes