ichneumon
English edit
Etymology edit
From Latin ichneumōn, from Ancient Greek ἰχνεύμων (ikhneúmōn, “tracker”), from ἴχνος (íkhnos, “track, footstep”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ichneumon (plural ichneumons)
- An Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), found in Africa and southern Europe.
- Synonym: nems
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
- when the Ichneumon is to grapple with the Crocodile, he walloweth his body in the mire, then lets the same drie and harden upon him […].
- An ichneumon wasp.
- 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 43:
- Ada's unique Lorelei Underwing had died, paralyzed by some ichneumon that had not been deceived by those clever prominences and fungoid smudges.
- (mythology) a legendary animal, which kills crocodiles and dragons
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
Herpestes ichneumon
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French edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ichneumon m (plural ichneumons)
Further reading edit
- “ichneumon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin edit
Etymology edit
From Ancient Greek ἰχνεύμων (ikhneúmōn, “tracker”), from ἴχνος (íkhnos, “track, footstep”).
Pronunciation edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ikʰˈneu̯.moːn/, [ɪkʰˈnɛu̯moːn]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ikˈneu̯.mon/, [ikˈnɛːu̯mon]
Noun edit
ichneumōn m (genitive ichneumonis); third declension
- Egyptian mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon
- ...deinde internecivum bellum cum ichneumone.
...and in the next place she has given it war to the death with the ichneumon.- Pliny the Elder, Natural History, VIII.35
- ...deinde internecivum bellum cum ichneumone.
- ichneumon wasp, ichneumon fly
- ...mustela et cornix, turtur et pyrallis, ichneumones vespae et phalangia aranei...
...the weasel and the crow, the turtle-dove and the pyrallis, ichneumon-flies and spiders...- Pliny the Elder, Natural History, X.95
- ...mustela et cornix, turtur et pyrallis, ichneumones vespae et phalangia aranei...
- (mythology) a legendary animal, which kills crocodiles
Declension edit
Third-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | ichneumōn | ichneumonēs |
Genitive | ichneumonis | ichneumonum |
Dative | ichneumonī | ichneumonibus |
Accusative | ichneumonem | ichneumonēs |
Ablative | ichneumone | ichneumonibus |
Vocative | ichneumōn | ichneumonēs |
References edit
- “ichneumon”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ichneumon in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.