cicada

American  

[si-key-duh, -kah-] / sɪˈkeɪ də, -ˈkɑ- /

noun

cicadas, plural cicadae plural

1. any large homopterous insect of the family Cicadidae, the male of which produces a shrill sound by means of vibrating membranes on the underside of the abdomen.

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cicada British  

/ sɪˈkɑːdə /

noun

1. any large broad insect of the homopterous family Cicadidae, most common in warm regions. Cicadas have membranous wings and the males produce a high-pitched drone by vibration of a pair of drumlike abdominal organs

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cicadae
  plural
• cicadas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cicada

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin cicāda

Explanation

A cicada is a large, winged insect that makes a distinctive vibrating sound. You might hear hundreds of male cicadas singing loudly on a summer night. Cicadas are often confused with locusts, which are a similar size, a little under two inches long, but are unrelated to cicadas. Depending on the species, cicadas live underground for anywhere from two to seventeen years before emerging for a few weeks of adulthood. Beyond their loud summer buzz, cicadas have a deep cultural history: Their discarded shells are a staple in traditional Chinese medicine, and they’ve been a popular food source from ancient Greece to modern-day Appalachia, where locals affectionately call them "jarflies."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cicada cicadae cicadas

The New Forest cicada, Cicadetta montana, was once found across the national park - but the last confirmed sightings were in the 1990s.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

His organic forms, including a glowing cicada and whale lamp, fall between $2,000 and $4,000.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

The bloody stain of the cicada on the artwork proves to be excellent foreshadowing of where the film is headed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026

“Most trees and shrubs will bounce back from cicada damage just fine,” he said.

From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2024

The harsh cicada seemed to take up its melody, and the twittering tree frogs called little phrases of it.

From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck

Suddenly the jungle was stilled, even from the voice of the rasping cicadae; the leaves had ceased to whisper, for the wind had hushed.

From Caste by Fraser, William Alexander

How delightful is the breeze:—so very sweet; and there is a sound in the air shrill and summerlike which makes answer to the chorus of the cicadae.

From Phaedrus by Jowett, Benjamin

Yet perhaps with sunflowers and cicadae, summer and winter, cattle, wife and family, the settler may create a full and various existence.

From Across the Plains by Stevenson, Robert Louis

It was in the month of August; and the whole countryside was ringing with the song of the cicadae.

From Fabre, Poet of Science by Miall, Bernard

When we stop, which we do often, for emigrants and freight travel together, the kine first, the man after, the whole plain is heard singing with cicadae.

From The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson for Boys and Girls by Stevenson, Robert Louis

"We are now able to look forward to a time when we can once again walk through the New Forest in summer and hear hundreds of cicadas singing their hearts out."

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

Some individuals compare the noise to cicadas or even a passing freight train, Price said.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026

Outdoors, the yard is alive with 17-year cicadas who are generating an increasingly eerie background hum while cheerful daytime television hosts lightly suggest ways to turn the situation into a positive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026

We did that before lunch, we came back from lunch and the cicadas — it was like Jesus had just opened the Bible and said, “Let it happen.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025

Crickets sang in the grass at their feet; cicadas buzzed in the trees overhead.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

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