antenna
Americannoun
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antennas,
plural
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antennae
plural
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a conductor by which electromagnetic waves are sent out or received, consisting commonly of a wire or set of wires; aerial.
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Zoology. one of the jointed, movable, sensory appendages occurring in pairs on the heads of insects and most other arthropods.
noun
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one of a pair of mobile appendages on the heads of insects, crustaceans, etc, that are often whiplike and respond to touch and taste but may be specialized for swimming or attachment
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another name for aerial
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One of a pair of long, slender, segmented appendages on the heads of insects, centipedes, millipedes, and crustaceans. Most antennae are organs of touch, but some are sensitive to odors and other stimuli.
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A metallic device for sending or receiving electromagnetic waves, such as radio waves. Some antennas can send waves in or receive waves from all directions; others are designed to work only in a range of directions.
Usage
Plural word for antenna The plural form of antenna can be either antennas or antennae, pronounced [ an-ten-ee ], depending on the meaning of the term. When used in the sense of "a conductor by which electromagnetic waves are sent out or received," the correct plural form is antennas. When used to describe the sensory appendages of organisms in the field of zoology, the correct plural form is antennae. The plural form of several other singular words ending in -a are also formed in this way, as in camera/cameras, pajama/pajamas, and pizza/pizzas. Irregular nouns whose plurals are formed like antennae, such as larva/larvae and fauna/faunae, derive directly from their original pluralization in Latin.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of antenna
1640–50; < Latin: a sailyard
Explanation
An antenna is a feeler found on the head of a bug. You know, the gross, creepy, pointy things they wave around and use as feelers or sensors. An antenna is also a device that sends radio and television signals. The singular noun antenna is just one of the feelers on a bug’s head — a sensory wand the insect waves around to check out its surroundings. The plural of this antenna is antennae. (Those Greeks and their funny words!) The singular noun antenna is also the thing on top of your television or radio. The plural of this antenna is antennas.
Vocabulary lists containing antenna
Animals (Zoology) - Introductory
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Buzzwords for National Honey Bee Day
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Animals (Zoology) - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Now their GPS signal is protected by a type of antenna that can block out electronic interference.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Over the next three months, Roman will deploy its antenna, adjust its course, and power on its two instruments: JPL’s planet hunter and a night-sky surveyor called the Wide Field Instrument.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
Daryanani sees opportunity for Amphenol to benefit even beyond AI, as the company, which also makes interconnect systems and antenna solutions, serves the defense and industrial markets.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
The new control method takes advantage of nanoscale antenna wires built into the robot.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
The antenna cable snaked up through a hole I’d punched in the van’s ceiling.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
This structure separates spiders and their relatives from insects, which instead have antennae at the front of their bodies.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026
Using satellite images, shore-based antennae, data and other sources, Kpler aims to reconstruct the trajectory of a vessel that has "gone dark," he added.
From Barron's ● Mar. 31, 2026
"There's around 10,000 satellites orbiting right now. The plan is to go to about 40-50,000 satellites in just some years," explains Abrahamsson, as he stands overlooking several large antennae.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2026
Today, there’s a Christmas tree fashioned out of communication antennae on her bow.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025
Deprived of antennae, any termite can become a group termite if touched frequently enough by the others.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
JPL also manages the Deep Space Network — the global array of massive antennas that will transmit commands to the copter and receive data from Titan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
Federal aviation officials are planning to move air-traffic control antennas and implement new procedures to avoid a repeat of last week’s safety incident with Marine One near a busy Washington, D.C., airport.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Global drone makers are particularly dependent on China for brushless motors, antennas, cameras and batteries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
When antennas are too far apart, the array produces several copies of the same beam at different angles.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
NBC, ABC, FOX all have vans with antennas and slick-dressed reporters yakking into microphones.
From "Ghost Boys" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
