insect English · revision 39790

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing, calque|attested=1601, P. Holland, translation of Pliny, Historie of the World|origins=la insecō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɪn.sɛkt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|īnsectum]], short for [[m|la|animal īnsectum|t=an animal notched or cut into]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) the neuter past participle of [[m|la|īnsecō|t=to cut into, cut up]],^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Hoad 1986) formed from [[m|la|in-|t=into]] and [[m|la|secō|t=to cut]], the source of [[section]].^(AHD 2024)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) Pliny used the Latin word as a loan translation of [[grc|ἔντομον|tr=éntomon|t=insect]], Aristotle's term, from [[m|grc|ἐντέμνω|tr=entémnō|t=to cut in]], the source of [[entomology]];^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(Ayto 2005) both names refer to the segmented body of insects.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Ayto 2005) Barnhart thinks the English borrowing may have been influenced by [[m|fr|insecte]],^(Barnhart 1995) which the OED records in the 16th century,^(OED 2026) and Skeat took the word through French.^(Skeat 1911)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A small invertebrate animal with a segmented body and several pairs of legs: 1601, in Philemon Holland's translation of Pliny's ''Natural History'',^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED) about 1600 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The OED has an earlier zoological use in George Puttenham's ''Arte of English Poesie'' (1589).^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ At first the word covered any small creature with a segmented body, including spiders and other creatures that are not insects in the modern sense;^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010) Merriam-Webster still records this loose, non-technical use.^(MWU 2024) Johnson (1755) explained the name by the "separation in the middle of their bodies".^(Johnson 1755) The zoological sense was narrowed to the class Insecta, with six legs and a body of three parts.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024) From 1684 the word was applied contemptuously to an insignificant or despicable person.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)^(Johnson 1755) An English verb ''insect'', to cut into, was used in the 17th century,^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) and another, to hunt insects, from 1879.^(OED 2026) In Australian slang ''insect'' was a jocular word for a horse in 1906.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1589 – a member of the class of insects.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1601 – a small invertebrate with a segmented body.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * a1652 – verb, to cut into (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1684 – a contemptible person.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1879 – verb, to hunt or catch insects.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small [[arthropod]] of the class Insecta, with a body divided into [[head]], [[thorax]] and [[abdomen]], three pairs of legs and usually two pairs of [[wing|alt=wings]], such as a beetle, bee or fly.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Loosely, any similar small [[invertebrate]], such as a spider or a tick.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A person regarded as insignificant or [[contemptible]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[insectarium]]

+ * [[insecticidal]]

+ * [[insecticide]]

+ * [[insectifuge]]

+ * [[insectile]]

+ * [[insectivore]]

+ * [[insectivorous]]

+ * [[insectology]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[entomology]]

+ * [[section]]

+ * [[segment]]

+ * [[dissect]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}