ichneumon

English

Etymology

From Latin ichneumōn, from Ancient Greek ἰχνεύμων (ikhneúmōn, “tracker”), from ἴχνος (íkhnos, “track, footstep”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪkˈnjuːmən/

Noun

ichneumon (plural ichneumons)

1. 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 […].

2. 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.

3. (mythology) a legendary animal, which kills crocodiles and dragons

Derived terms

• ichneumoned
• ichneumonized
• ichneumonology

Related terms

• ichnology
• ichnogram
• ichneumia

Translations

Herpestes ichneumon

• Akan: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: نمس m (nims)

• Armenian:

  Old Armenian: ինքնիմոն (inkʻnimon)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 埃及獴 (Āijí měng)

• Dutch: ichneumon m
• Egyptian: (ḫꜣtrw m)
• Finnish: egyptinmungo, faaraorotta
• Georgian:

  Old Georgian: იქნამონი (iknamoni), გუელის-მბრძოლი (guelis-mbrʒoli)

• German: Ichneumon m or n
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἰχνεύμων m (ikhneúmōn)

• Latin: ichneumon m
• Old English: nǣderbita m
• Portuguese: saca-rabos m
• Romanian: ihneumon (ro) m
• Russian: ихневмо́н (ru) m (ixnevmón), фарао́нова кры́са f (faraónova krýsa), еги́петский мангу́ст m (jegípetskij mangúst)
• Sanskrit: नकुल (sa) m (nakula)
• Spanish: meloncillo m
• Telugu: ముంగిస (te) (muṅgisa)
• Welsh: llygoden Ffaro f, llygoden Ffrengig yr Aifft, ichnewmon m

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ik.nø.mɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

ichneumon m (plural ichneumons)

1. ichneumon

Further reading

• “ichneumon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἰχνεύμων (ikhneúmōn, “tracker”), from ἴχνος (íkhnos, “track, footstep”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ikʰˈneu̯.moːn/, [ɪkʰˈnɛu̯moːn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ikˈneu̯.mon/, [ikˈnɛːu̯mon]

Noun

ichneumōn m (genitive ichneumonis); third declension

1. 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

2. 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

3. (mythology) a legendary animal, which kills crocodiles

Declension

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

• “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.