anopheles

[ uh-nof-uh-leez ]

/ əˈnɒf əˌliz /

noun, plural a·noph·e·les.

any mosquito of the genus Anopheles, certain species of which are vectors of the parasite causing malaria in humans, distinguished from other mosquitoes by the absence of breathing tubes in the larvae and by the head-downward stance of the adult while resting or feeding.

Nearby words

Compare culex.

Origin of anopheles

1895–1900; < New Latin < Greek anōphelḗs useless, hurtful, harmful, equivalent to an- an-¹ + -ōpheles- variant stem of óphelos profit; earlier (a)n- (with vowel lengthening) + opheles-, written in Mycenaean Greek as nopere

Related formsa·noph·e·line

[uh-nof-uh-lahyn, -lin] /əˈnɒf əˌlaɪn, -lɪn/, adjective, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for anopheles

In contrast to the veteran Anopheles, the Aedes mosquito did not arrive until the 1980s.
Chikungunya: The Mosquito-Borne Virus That Contorts Your Limbs|Kent Sepkowitz|March 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The other division of malaria-hunters pursued the trail of the Anopheles to her lair.
Preventable Diseases|Woods Hutchinson
In the stomach of an Anopheles, the gametocytes quickly proceed to gamete-formation.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 7|Various
The isthmus of Panama was beautifully adapted to the breeding of the anopheles and the widest dissemination of malaria.
The Panama Canal|J. Saxon Mills

To-day we know that malaria is communicated by the bite of the anopheles mosquito and never by the air.
How to Live|Irving Fisher and Eugene Fisk
Malaria is transmitted in this way by the anopheles mosquito; typhus fever by lice, and plague by the rat flea.
On the Fringe of the Great Fight|George G. Nasmith

British Dictionary definitions for anopheles

anopheles

/ (əˈnɒfɪˌliːz) /

noun plural -les

any of various mosquitoes constituting the genus Anopheles, some species of which transmit the malaria parasite to man

Word Origin for anopheles

C19: via New Latin from Greek anōphelēs useless, from an- + ōphelein to help, from ophelos help

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for anopheles

Anopheles

genus of mosquitoes, Modern Latin, coined 1818 by German entomologist Johann Wilhelm Meigen (1764-1845) from Greek anopheles "useless, hurtful, harmful," from an-, privative prefix, (see an- (1)) + ophelos "use, help, advantage" (see Ophelia). So called because it conveys malaria.

Medicine definitions for anopheles

Anopheles

[ ə-nŏf′ə-lēz′ ]

n.

A genus of mosquitoes containing over 90 species, many of which are vectors of malaria.

Related formsa•noph•e•line (-līn′) adj.