ant
/ænt/ · noun
Meaning
- Any of various insects in the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera, typically living in large colonies composed almost entirely of flightless females.
- A Web spider.
- To rub insects, especially ants, on one's body, perhaps to control parasites or clean feathers.
- A diminutive of the male given name Anthony, from Latin.
- A river in Norfolk, England, tributary to the Bure.
- The 27th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.
- Initialism of Afghanistan National Television.
- Initialism of Aids to Navigation Team, as used in the United States Coast Guard.
- Abbreviation of actor–network theory.
- Acronym of ambiguous nuclear transient.
Etymology / origin
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *āmaitijā Old English ǣmete Middle English ampte English ant From Middle English ampte, amte, emete, amete, from Old English ǣmete (“ant”), from Proto-West Germanic *āmaitijā (literally “biting-thing, cutter”), of uncertain and debated origin (q.v.), but probably 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.
- Ameise(German)→
- emt(Dutch)→
- emmot(sco)→
- *meh₂y-(ine-pro)→
- *ē-(gem-pro)→
- *āmaitijā(gmw-pro)→
- æmete(Old English)→
- ampte(Middle English)→
- ant (English)
- Relations: inh, inh, inh, inh, inh, cog, cog, cog
Related words
Descendant words
- emt(Dutch) (cog)
- Ameise(German) (cog)
- anis(Tok Pisin) (inh)
- eameler(West Frisian) (cog)
Sources
No citations have been attached yet.