termite

Meanings

Noun

• A white-bodied, wood-consuming insect of the infraorder Isoptera, in the order Blattodea.

Verb

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

Related

Similar words

• termes, white ant, wood ant

Origin

• From French termite, which is from Latin termites (three syllables), plural of termes.
• Also possibly a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *term- ("drill").