insect

[in-sekt]

noun

1. 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.

2. any small arthropod, such as a spider, tick, or centipede, having a superficial, general similarity to the insects.

3. a contemptible or unimportant person.

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, like, or used for or against insects.

   an insect bite; insect powder.

insect

/ ˈɪnsɛkt /

noun

1. 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 species

2. (loosely) any similar invertebrate, such as a spider, tick, or centipede

3. a contemptible, loathsome, or insignificant person

insect

1. 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.

2. See Notes at biomass bug entomology

Other Word Forms

• insectean adjective
• insect-like adjective
• insectival adjective
• noninsect noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of insect¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin insectum, noun use of neuter of insectus, past participle of insecāre “to incise, cut”; translation of Greek éntomon “insect,” literally, “notched or incised one”; entomo-; segment

Word History and Origins

Origin of insect¹

C17: from Latin insectum (animal that has been) cut into, insect, from insecāre, from _in- ² + secāre to cut; translation of Greek entomon insect

Example Sentences

Drivers say a number of buses and their rest areas are infested with cockroaches and say the insects need eradicating.

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Scientists have uncovered the first South American amber deposits containing preserved insects in a quarry in Ecuador, according to a study published in Communications Earth & Environment.

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Even now, he’d remove an insect from his house rather than squash it.

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The bathroom, she says, is a tent in the street with rats and insects.

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Like many insects, ladybirds enter a state of inactivity over winter known as diapause – an insect version of hibernation.

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Related Words

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