terebrant

See also: térébrant

English
WOTD – 9 May 2023

Etymology
Specimens of two species of terebrant (noun sense): an onion thrips (Thrips tabaci; left), and a western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis).

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin terebrantem, the accusative masculine or feminine singular of terebrāns, the present active participle of terebrō (“to bore through, perforate, pierce”), from terebra (“instrument for boring, borer, gimlet”) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).[1] Terebra is derived from ter(ō) (“to rub; to wear away”) (from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to drill, pierce; to rub; to turn”)) + -bra (suffix denoting an instrument, forming nouns).

The noun is either derived from the adjective, or is a back-formation from Terebrantia (“suborder of thrips”).[2]

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtɛɹəbɹənt/, /-ɹɪ-/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈtɛɹəbɹənt/
  • Hyphenation: te‧re‧brant

Adjective

terebrant (not comparable)

  1. (entomology) Of an insect: that bores (“makes holes”); specifically, belonging to the Terebrantia suborder of thrips which bore using their ovipositors.
    • 1832, Edward Griffith, Edward Pidgeon, “Supplement on the Hymenoptera”, in Baron Cuvier [i.e., Georges Cuvier], translated by [Edward Griffith], The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with Its Organization […], volume 15 (The Class Insecta, volume 2), London: […] [Gilbert & Rivington] for Whittaker, Treacher, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 395:
      The other terebrant hymenoptera feed in the same state either on larvæ, caterpillars particularly, of which they gnaw the interior, without attacking the essential principle of life at first, or on nymphs or eggs of insects, bodies in which they have been deposited under this last form by the mother.
  2. (pathology) Of pain: resembling the sensation of being bored into or pierced.

Translations

Noun

terebrant (plural terebrants)

  1. (entomology) An insect that bores (“makes holes”); a borer; specifically, one belonging to the Terebrantia suborder of thrips which bore using their ovipositors.

Translations
insect that bores — see borer

References
  1. Compare “terebrant, adj. and n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2020.
  2. Compare “terebrant, adj. and n.”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Further reading

Latin

Verb

terebrant

  1. third-person plural present active indicative of terebrō
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