anopheles

[uh-nof-uh-leez]

noun

plural

anopheles 

1. 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.

anopheles

/ əˈnɒfɪˌliːz /

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• anopheline adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of anopheles¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of anopheles¹

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