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definitions

insect

[in-sekt]
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noun

any animal of the class Insecta, comprising small, air-breathing arthropods having the body divided into three parts (head, thorax, and abdomen), and having three pairs of legs and usually two pairs of wings.
any small arthropod, such as a spider, tick, or centipede, having a superficial, general similarity to the insects.Compare arachnid.
a contemptible or unimportant person.

adjective

of, pertaining to, like, or used for or against insects: an insect bite; insect powder.

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RELATED WORDS

tick, vermin, pest, mite, bee, butterfly, gnat, dragonfly, moth, grasshopper, spider, cockroach, termite, ant, mosquito, beetle, flea, aphid, ladybug, fly

Nearby words

  1. inscroll,
  2. inscrutability,
  3. inscrutable,
  4. insculp,
  5. inseam,
  6. insect wax,
  7. insecta,
  8. insectarium,
  9. insectary,
  10. insecticide

Origin of insect

1595–1605; < Latin insectum, noun use of neuter of insectus past participle of insecāre to incise, cut (cf. segment); translation of Greek éntomon insect, literally, notched or incised one; see entomo-
Related formsin·sec·ti·val [in-sek-tahy-vuh l] /ˌɪn sɛkˈtaɪ vəl/, adjectivenon·in·sect, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for insect

British Dictionary definitions for insect

insect

noun

any small air-breathing arthropod of the class Insecta, having a body divided into head, thorax, and abdomen, three pairs of legs, and (in most species) two pairs of wings. Insects comprise about five sixths of all known animal species, with a total of over one million named speciesRelated adjective: entomic
(loosely) any similar invertebrate, such as a spider, tick, or centipede
a contemptible, loathsome, or insignificant person
Derived Formsinsectean, insectan or insectile, adjectiveinsect-like, adjective

Word Origin for insect

C17: from Latin insectum (animal that has been) cut into, insect, from insecāre, from in- ² + secāre to cut; translation of Greek entomon insect
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for insect

insect

n.

c.1600, from Latin (animal) insectum "(animal) with a notched or divided body," literally "cut into," from neuter past participle of insectare "to cut into, to cut up," from in- "into" (see in- (2)) + secare "to cut" (see section (n.)). Pliny's loan-translation of Greek entomon "insect" (see entomology), which was Aristotle's term for this class of life, in reference to their "notched" bodies.

First in English in 1601 in Holland's translation of Pliny. Translations of Aristotle's term also form the usual word for "insect" in Welsh (trychfil, from trychu "cut" + mil "animal"), Serbo-Croatian (zareznik, from rezati "cut"), Russian (nasekomoe, from sekat "cut"), etc.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for insect

insect

[ĭn′sĕkt′]

n.

Any of numerous usually small arthropod animals of the class Insecta, having an adult stage characterized by three pairs of legs and a body segmented into head, thorax, and abdomen and usually having two pairs of wings.
Any of various similar arthropod animals, such as spiders, centipedes, or ticks.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Science definitions for insect

insect

[ĭn′sĕkt′]

Any of very numerous, mostly small arthropods of the class Insecta, having six segmented legs in the adult stage and a body divided into three parts (the head, thorax, and abdomen). The head has a pair of antennae and the thorax usually has one or two pairs of wings. Most insects undergo substantial change in form during development from the young to the adult stage. More than 800,000 species are known, most of them beetles. Other insects include flies, bees, ants, grasshoppers, butterflies, cockroaches, aphids, and silverfish. See Notes at biomass bug entomology.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.