ichneumon

American  

[ik-noo-muhn, -nyoo-] / ɪkˈnu mən, -ˈnyu- /

noun

1. Also called African mongoose.  Also called Egyptian mongoose.  a slender, long-tailed mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon, inhabiting Africa and southern Europe, and believed by the ancient Egyptians to devour crocodile eggs.

2. ichneumon fly.

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ichneumon British  

/ ɪkˈnjuːmən /

noun

1. a mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon, of Africa and S Europe, having greyish-brown speckled fur

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Etymology

Origin of ichneumon

1565–75; < Latin < Greek ichneúmōn tracker, equivalent to ichneú ( ein ) to track ( ichno- ) + -mōn agent suffix

Example Sentences

The ichneumon wasp was a challenge to Darwin’s already diminishing faith.

From The Guardian • Nov. 12, 2016

And though it isn’t a beetle, the elegant pipe cleaner, an ichneumon wasp, looks as if it’s preening for its first portrait as a principal ballet dancer.

From New York Times • Dec. 2, 2013

The girls recovered on cerumen, chaffinch and ichneumon.

From Time Magazine Archive

So far the experience of an Old Indian; and we now turn to another authority on the highly-curious subject just glanced at—the knowledge of the ichneumon of a specific against the poison of the snake.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine Vol. IV, No. 19, Dec 1851 by Various

The Kimberly diamond mines are said to have been disclosed by the burrowings of an ichneumon, which fetched a brilliant stone to the sunlight.

From The Business of Mining A brief non-technical exposition of the principles involved in the profitable operation of mines by Hoskin, Arthur J.