different between epifamily vs termite

English

Etymology

epi- +? family

Noun

epifamily (plural epifamilies)

1. (taxonomy) A rank between family and superfamily.

English

Etymology

From French termite, which is from Latin termites (three syllables), plural of termes.

Also possibly a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *term- (“drill”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?t??(?).ma?t/
• Rhymes: -??(?)ma?t

Noun

termite (plural termites)

1. A white-bodied, wood-consuming insect of the infraorder Isoptera, in the order Blattodea.
   • 1802, Francis William Blagdon, Modern Discoveries; or, a Collection of facts and observations, vol. IV, page 162

     Linnæus describes this insect under the Latin name of Termes; and citizen Cuvier speaks of it under that of Termites. The vulgar call it by that of white ant, or fourmi vaguevague. The termites divide themselves into societies: each society builds itself a next, and each nest belongs to an innumerable quantity of these insects, who acknowledge for their chiefs a king and a queen.

Synonyms

• (white-bodied, wood-consuming insect): termes, white ant

Translations

Verb

termite (third-person singular simple present termites, present participle termiting, simple past and past participle termited)

1. (intransitive) Of a chimpanzee: to catch termites by inserting a stick or vine into their nest and waiting for them to climb up it.

Further reading

• termite on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• emitter

French

Etymology

Back-formation from termites. From Late Latin termites (plural of termes), late variant of the Classical Latin tarmes (“woodworm”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??.mit/

Noun

termite m or f (plural termites)

1. termite (white-bodied, wood-consuming insect)
   • 1798, Georges Cuvier, Tableau élémentaire de l'histoire naturelle des animaux, page 479

     Les termites parfaits ont le corps et la tête applatis horizontalement ; trois articles à tous les doigts. Leurs antennes, en forme de chapelet, les distinguent assez des autres genres de cet ordre. […]
     1. Le termite belliqueux. (Termes fatale.)
     Est l'espèce la plus grande et la plus commune. […]
     2. Le termite atroce. (Termes arda.)
     Noir, à pieds pâles, et
     3. Le termite mordant. (Termes mordax.)
     Noir, à pieds de même couleur.

Usage notes

While most dictionaries give termite has masculine, it is commonly used as a feminine noun, due to the ending -ite.

Descendants

• ? Romanian: termit?

Synonyms

• fourmi blanche

Further reading

• “termite” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Etymology

From Late Latin termes, termit?s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t?r.mi.te/

Noun

termite f (plural termiti)

1. termite (white-bodied, wood-consuming insect)

Anagrams

• rimette, temerti

Further reading

• termite in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?ter.mi.te/, [?t??rm?t??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?ter.mi.te/, [?t??rmit??]

Noun

termite m

1. ablative singular of termes