termes

A termite.

Noun

  1. A termite.
    • These turret nests, built by two different species of Termites. - 1781, Henry Smeathman, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, LXXI, page 160:
    • The termes, or what is called the white ant, infests this island. - 1800, The Asiatic Annual Register, page 5/2:
    • The termes of South Africa is not the destructive species. - 1834, Thomas Pringle, chapter VIII, in African Sketches, page 287:

Origin

From the translingual Termes (genus name), from Late Latin termes, late variant of Classical Latin tarmes (“woodworm”).

Forms

termites

Derived

termite