insect

[ in-sekt ]

noun

1. any animal of the class Insecta, comprising small, air-breathing arthropods having the body divided into three parts (head, thorax, and abdomen), and having three pairs of legs and usually two pairs of wings.
2. any small arthropod, such as a spider, tick, or centipede, having a superficial, general similarity to the insects. Compare arachnid.
3. a contemptible or unimportant person.

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, like, or used for or against insects:

   an insect bite; insect powder.

insect

/ ˈɪnsɛkt /

noun

1. any small air-breathing arthropod of the class Insecta, having a body divided into head, thorax, and abdomen, three pairs of legs, and (in most species) two pairs of wings. Insects comprise about five sixths of all known animal species, with a total of over one million named species entomic
2. (loosely) any similar invertebrate, such as a spider, tick, or centipede
3. a contemptible, loathsome, or insignificant person

insect

/ ĭn′sĕkt′ /

1. Any of very numerous, mostly small arthropods of the class Insecta, having six segmented legs in the adult stage and a body divided into three parts (the head, thorax, and abdomen). The head has a pair of antennae and the thorax usually has one or two pairs of wings. Most insects undergo substantial change in form during development from the young to the adult stage. More than 800,000 species are known, most of them beetles. Other insects include flies, bees, ants, grasshoppers, butterflies, cockroaches, aphids, and silverfish.
2. See Notes at biomass

Derived Forms

• inˈsectean, adjective
• ˈinsect-ˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• in·sec·ti·val [in-sek-, tahy, -v, uh, l], adjective
• non·insect noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of insect¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin insectum, noun use of neuter of insectus, past participle of insecāre “to incise, cut”; translation of Greek éntomon “insect,” literally, “notched or incised one”; entomo-; segment

Word History and Origins

Origin of insect¹

C17: from Latin insectum (animal that has been) cut into, insect, from insecāre, from in- ² + secāre to cut; translation of Greek entomon insect

Example Sentences

The findings could illustrate for the first time that, when targeted with pesticides, changes to the physical traits of “pest” species can occur in bigger animals, not just insects and rodents.

From Science News

After a few weeks, that larval insect wraps itself in a jade green covering.

From Science News For Students

Prior to this new find, the oldest plant bedding — mainly consisting of sedge leaves, ash and aromatic plants likely used to keep insects away — dated to around 77,000 years ago at South Africa’s Sibudu rock-shelter.

From Science News

Chemical communication among insects isn’t always monosyllabic, with a single compound changing a behavior wholesale.

From Science News

Miyako and Yang say their bubble solution was biocompatible, but Potts worries that dousing flowers in human-made substances could dissuade insects from visiting those trees.

From Science News

Bats are crucial to the ecosystem, performing extremely valuable jobs like pollination and insect control.

From The Daily Beast

Their nightly flights bring with them the powers to pollinate plants and control insect populations.

From The Daily Beast

When you crush an insect, you have all these long worms uncoiling from the belly.

From The Daily Beast

One of these heroes is an insect-loving contemporary of Charles Darwin, the other a crocodile-wrestling Steve Irwin acolyte.

From The Daily Beast

On the heels of a U.N. report urging more insect consumption, Nina Strochlic rounds up the yummiest.

From The Daily Beast

To the animal whose special finger enables him to catch the insect?

From Project Gutenberg

In my house there has never been sufficient food for a solid meal, and I have not land enough even for an insect to rest upon.

From Project Gutenberg

The heat of the water destroys the insect and instantly removes the pain of the bite.

From Project Gutenberg

This insect is much less in size than the former, and is more convex.

From Project Gutenberg

There is a wretched figure of this insect given in the fourth volume of Cuvier's Regne Animal.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ant
• aphid
• bee
• beetle
• butterfly
• cockroach
• dragonfly
• flea
• fruit fly
• gnat
• grasshopper
• ladybug
• mite
• mosquito
• moth
• pest
• spider
• termite
• tick