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

In Costa Rica, a rufous-vented ground cuckoo snatches a cicada fleeing an army ant swarm.

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026

The summer’s unpleasant cicada infestation, meanwhile, is a stark reminder that his preferred droning screech comes from his dot-matrix printer, spitting out keyboard-symbol drawings he makes for customers who send him cash.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 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

Then there was the playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a winner for “Appropriate,” rocking a cicada brooch tie, a nod to one of the production’s creepy-crawly motifs.

From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2024

The creature made horrible click, click, click noises like an enormous, slow-motion cicada.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

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

Wherever it appeared, moreover, the red-eyed cicadae were in abundance.

From Discoveries in Australia, Volume 2 Discoveries in Australia; with an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in The Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. By Command of the Lords Commissioners Of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits To the Islands in the Arafura Sea by Stokes, John Lort

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

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

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

He said: "We went creeping around the grounds of this military base using ultrasound detectors to try to hear the male cicadas singing, so it did feel a bit James Bond."

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

She has made her own pact with the insects, asking them to restore the life of her stillborn baby, whose corpse she has held onto in the hope that the cicadas will answer her prayer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2025

There was nothing outside of him, not even the grating of cicadas, not even the gray-bodied trees.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

Related Words

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