mantis

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmæntɪs/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin Mantis,^[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek μάντις (mántis, “prophet, seer”),^{[6][2][3][4][7]} which Theocritus also used of a kind of long insect with long forelimbs.^[3][8] It is related to μαίνεσθαι (maínesthai, “to be inspired, be mad”) and μένος (ménos, “passion, spirit”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”);^[3][6] compare mania and -mancy.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

An insect that holds its forelegs as if in prayer, especially the praying mantis (1646 in Merriam-Webster and the Historical Thesaurus; 1658 in the OED and Barnhart).^{[4][9][10][2]}

Semantic evolution

The Greeks compared the raised forelegs of a mantis waiting for prey to the hands of a prophet at prayer.^[6][11] The insect is named for this posture, so praying mantis and the species name Mantis religiosa are somewhat redundant.^[6][11] Other names of the same kind were praying locust and orator mantis, from an old sense of orator, “one who prays”.^[6] The mantis shrimp (by 1853; earlier sea-mantis, 1690s) is named for its likeness to the insect.^[3]

Timeline

• 1646 – the insect (Merriam-Webster).^[4][9]
• 1658 – first quotation in the OED.^[10][2]
• 1850 – mantis-crab, mantis-shrimp.^[10]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of various predatory insects of the family Mantidae, chiefly tropical, with a long body and powerful grasping forelimbs held up as if in prayer; a praying mantis.

Word family

• praying mantis
• mantis crab
• mantis shrimp

Related words

• mantid
• mania
• -mancy
• mind

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
10. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b From Abracadabra to Zeus: Word Histories and Mysteries (2004), Boston: Houghton Mifflin (American Heritage Dictionaries)