ant

¹

[ ant ]

noun

1. any of numerous black, red, brown, or yellow social insects of the family Formicidae, of worldwide distribution especially in warm climates, having a large head with inner jaws for chewing and outer jaws for carrying and digging, and living in highly organized colonies containing wingless female workers, a winged queen, and, during breeding seasons, winged males, some species being noted for engaging in warfare, slavemaking, or the cultivation of food sources.

an't

²

[ ant, ahnt, eynt ]

1. Chiefly British Dialect. contraction of am not.
2. Dialect. ain't.

ant-

³

1. variant of anti- before a vowel or h: antacid; anthelmintic .

-ant

⁴

1. a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from verbs, occurring originally in French and Latin loanwords ( pleasant; constant; servant ) and productive in English on this model; -ant has the general sense “characterized by or serving in the capacity of ” that named by the stem ( ascendant; pretendant ), especially in the formation of nouns denoting human agents in legal actions or other formal procedures ( tenant; defendant; applicant; contestant ). In technical and commercial coinages, -ant is a suffix of nouns denoting impersonal physical agents ( propellant; lubricant; deodorant ). In general, -ant can be added only to bases of Latin origin, with a very few exceptions, as coolant .

ant.

⁵

abbreviation for

1. antenna
2. antonym.

Ant.

⁶

abbreviation for

1. Antarctica.

-ant

¹

suffix forming adjectives

1. causing or performing an action or existing in a certain condition; the agent that performs an action

   protestant

   pleasant

   claimant

   servant

   deodorant

ant-

²

prefix

1. See anti-
   a variant of anti-

   antacid

an't

³

contraction of

1. See aren't
   ɑːnt a rare variant spelling of aren't
2. See ain't
   dialect.
   eɪnt a variant spelling of ain't

ant

⁴

/ ænt /

noun

1. See wood ant, slave ant, fire ant, army ant
   any small social insect of the widely distributed hymenopterous family Formicidae, typically living in highly organized colonies of winged males, wingless sterile females (workers), and fertile females (queens), which are winged until after mating See also army ant fire ant slave ant wood ant formic
2. See termite
   white ant
   white ant another name for a termite
3. have ants in one's pants slang.
   have ants in one's pants to be restless or impatient

Other Words From

• antlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ant¹

before 1000; Middle English am ( e ) te, em ( e ) te, Old English ǣmette; cognate with Middle Low German āmete, ēm ( e ) te, Middle Dutch amete, Old High German āmeiza ( ā- a- ³ + meizan to beat, cut, cognate with Albanian mih (he) digs), German Ameise. See emmet, mite ¹

Origin of ant²

First recorded in 1700–10; ain't; aren't

Origin of ant³

< Latin -ant-, present participle stem of verbs in -āre; in many words < French -ant < Latin -ant- or -ent- ( -ent ); akin to Middle English, Old English -and-, -end-, present participle suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of ant¹

from Latin -ant-, ending of present participles of the first conjugation

Origin of ant²

Old English ǣmette; related to Old High German āmeiza, Old Norse meita; see emmet

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. have ants in one's pants, Slang. to be impatient or eager to act or speak.

Example Sentences

The most cooperative organisms like ants, bees, termites—or, if you want to compare mammals to mammals, the beautiful naked mole rats—aren’t renowned for their brilliance.

From Nautilus

Yet while the cows’ bacteria merely inhabit the animals’ stomach, the bacteria in the ants live inside their gut cells as endosymbionts.

From Quanta Magazine

So the ants evolved to leave the ancestral germline as a “decoy” to attract the bacteria, Rajakumar said.

From Quanta Magazine

In exchange, the carpenter ants provide a protective cellular environment for the Blochmannia and transmit them to their offspring, ensuring the bacteria’s survival.

From Quanta Magazine

Bullet ant stings, he finds, are roughly 10 times more painful.

From Science News For Students

An Uber driver went on an anti-gay, ant-American rant before physically assaulting his passenger.

From The Daily Beast

I was reducing everything to ant scale, the U.S. included—an ant White House, an ant CIA, an ant Congress, an ant Pentagon.

From The Daily Beast

Strangely, he did this by diluting the sting of the ant scene.

From The Daily Beast

In the U.S. view a small group—or cadre—of fierce red ants have taken power and are opposing the black-ant majority.

From The Daily Beast

RAMON: (Seething with contempt) Secret ant landing strips, illegally established on foreign soil.

From The Daily Beast

Her feet crush creeping things: there is a busy ant or blazoned beetle, with its back broken, writhing in the dust, unseen.

From Project Gutenberg

Pervenimvs huc (sicut ant numeratum est) vigesim secund Maij.

From Project Gutenberg

Because we are crowded here and there in the ant-hills of our cities, we dream that the world is full.

From Project Gutenberg

But Burguy explains that romant is a false form, due to confusion with words rightly ending in -ant.

From Project Gutenberg

The ant individual preserves its powers of observation and thought and may initiate new processes.

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