weevil

weevil

English

WOTD – 18 June 2017

A boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis), a weevil (sense 2) that feeds on cotton buds and flowers

Etymology

From Middle English wevel, from Old English wifel (“beetle”), from Proto-West Germanic *wibil, from Proto-Germanic *wibilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *webʰel-, from *(h₁)webʰ- (“to wave, to weave”), said to be from the woven appearance of a weevil’s larval case,[1] + *-el-, *-l̥- (diminutive or attributive suffix); see also wave and weave.

Compare Old Saxon *wivil (“beetle”); Middle Low German wevel; Old High German wibil, wipil (modern German Wiebel (“beetle; chafer”)); Lithuanian vãbalas (“beetle; weevil”); Old Norse vifill, as in tordyfill (“dung beetle, scarab”) (whence Dutch tortwevel; Icelandic tordýfill, Norwegian tordivel, Old English tordwifel, Swedish tordyvel); dialectal Russian ве́блица (véblica, “intestinal worm”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwiːv(ə)l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwiːvɪl/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːvəl
• Hyphenation: wee‧vil

Noun

weevil (plural weevils)

1. Any of many tens of thousands of species of herbivorous beetles, ranging in size from tiny to large, in the superfamily Curculionoidea, the most characteristic species having the head projecting in a distinctive snout with the mouthparts at the tip.
2. Any of many tens of thousands of species of herbivorous beetles of various sizes, in the family Curculionidae within the superfamily Curculionoidea.
3. Any of many similar, but more distantly related, beetles such as the biscuit weevil (Stegobium paniceum).
4. (figurative, derogatory) A loathsome person.
   • 1950, Jack Lindsay, Fires in Smithfield. A Novel of Mary Tudor’s Reign, London: The Bodley Head, OCLC 560679576, page 201:

     But you accuse other men of villainy with too easy a tongue, you weevil. I have never wanted you in this matter, and I have said so.

Synonyms

• (beetle of the family Curculionidae): snout beetle, true weevil, nunu

Derived terms

• alfalfa weevil
• apple blossom weevil
• bean weevil
• biscuit weevil
• boll weevil
• giraffe weevil
• grain weevil, granary weevil
• maize weevil
• pine weevil
• rice weevil
• true weevil
• weevily
• wheat weevil

 

Translations

beetle in the superfamily Curculionoidea

Belarusian: даўгано́сік m (daŭhanósik), сло́нік m (slónik), шашо́лка f (šašólka) Chinese: Mandarin: 象鼻蟲／象鼻虫 (zh) (xiàngbíchóng) Czech: nosatec m Dutch: snuitkever (nl) m Esperanto: kalandro, grenskarabo Finnish: kärsäkäsmäinen French: charançon (fr) m, balanin (fr), cosson (fr) Galician: gurgullo m, congorxo m German: Rüsselkäfer m Greek: Ancient: κίς m (kís) Hungarian: ormányosbogár (hu), zsizsik Italian: curculione (it) m, calandra (it), balanino (it) Japanese: 象虫 (ja) (ぞうむし, zōmushi), ゾウムシ (zōmushi) Kabuverdianu: gurgudju Korean: 바구미 (ko) (bagumi) Latin: curculiō (la) m Malay: bubuk Maori: pepeke nguturoa Navajo: tsé neiʼáhí Old Javanese: bubuk Polish: ryjkowiec m Portuguese: gorgulho (pt) m Russian: долгоно́сик (ru) m (dolgonósik) Spanish: gorgojo (es) m Swedish: vivel (sv) c Ukrainian: довгоно́сик m (dovhonósyk), сло́ник m (slónyk) Welsh: gwiddonyn m

beetle in the family Curculionidae

Belarusian: даўгано́сік m (daŭhanósik), сло́нік m (slónik), шашо́лка f (šašólka) Bulgarian: гъгрица (bg) f (gǎgrica), хоботник m (hobotnik) Catalan: morrut (ca) m Dutch: snuitkever (nl) m Estonian: kärsakas Faroese: trantklukka f Finnish: kärsäkäs (fi) Galician: gurgullo m German: Rüsselkäfer m Greek: Ancient: κίς m (kís) Kabuverdianu: gurgudju Navajo: tsé neiʼáhí Spanish: gorgojo (es) m, picudo m Swedish: vivel (sv) c Ukrainian: довгоно́сик m (dovhonósyk), сло́ник m (slónyk) Welsh: gwiddonyn m

similar beetle

Finnish: kuoriainen (fi)

loathsome person

Finnish: nilviäinen (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Hausa: (please verify) mā̀yā m

References

1. “weevil, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1926.