ant

¹

[ ant ]

noun

1. any of numerous black, red, brown, or yellow social insects of the family Formicidae, of worldwide distribution especially in warm climates, having a large head with inner jaws for chewing and outer jaws for carrying and digging, and living in highly organized colonies containing wingless female workers, a winged queen, and, during breeding seasons, winged males, some species being noted for engaging in warfare, slavemaking, or the cultivation of food sources.

an't

²

[ ant, ahnt, eynt ]

1. Chiefly British Dialect. contraction of am not.
2. Dialect. ain't.

ant-

³

1. variant of anti- before a vowel or h: antacid; anthelmintic .

-ant

⁴

1. a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from verbs, occurring originally in French and Latin loanwords ( pleasant; constant; servant ) and productive in English on this model; -ant has the general sense “characterized by or serving in the capacity of ” that named by the stem ( ascendant; pretendant ), especially in the formation of nouns denoting human agents in legal actions or other formal procedures ( tenant; defendant; applicant; contestant ). In technical and commercial coinages, -ant is a suffix of nouns denoting impersonal physical agents ( propellant; lubricant; deodorant ). In general, -ant can be added only to bases of Latin origin, with a very few exceptions, as coolant .

ant.

⁵

abbreviation for

1. antenna
2. antonym.

Ant.

⁶

abbreviation for

1. Antarctica.

ant-

¹

prefix

1. a variant of anti-

   antacid

ant

²

/ ænt /

noun

1. any small social insect of the widely distributed hymenopterous family Formicidae, typically living in highly organized colonies of winged males, wingless sterile females (workers), and fertile females (queens), which are winged until after mating See also army ant fire ant slave ant wood ant formic
2. white ant
   another name for a termite
3. have ants in one's pants slang.
   to be restless or impatient

an't

³

contraction of

1. ɑːnt a rare variant spelling of aren't
2. dialect.
   eɪnt a variant spelling of ain't

-ant

⁴

suffix forming adjectives

1. causing or performing an action or existing in a certain condition; the agent that performs an action

   protestant

   pleasant

   claimant

   deodorant

   servant

Other Words From

• antlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ant¹

before 1000; Middle English am ( e ) te, em ( e ) te, Old English ǣmette; cognate with Middle Low German āmete, ēm ( e ) te, Middle Dutch amete, Old High German āmeiza ( ā- a- ³ + meizan to beat, cut, cognate with Albanian mih (he) digs), German Ameise. See emmet, mite ¹

Origin of ant²

First recorded in 1700–10; ain't; aren't

Origin of ant³

< Latin -ant-, present participle stem of verbs in -āre; in many words < French -ant < Latin -ant- or -ent- ( -ent ); akin to Middle English, Old English -and-, -end-, present participle suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of ant¹

Old English ǣmette; related to Old High German āmeiza, Old Norse meita; see emmet

Origin of ant²

from Latin -ant-, ending of present participles of the first conjugation

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. have ants in one's pants, Slang. to be impatient or eager to act or speak.

Example Sentences

A team of Florida State University researchers led by Assistant Professor of Mathematics Bhargav Karamched has discovered that in a foraging ant's search for food, it will leave pheromone trails connecting its colony to multiple food sources when they're available, successfully creating the first model that explains the phenomenon of trail formation to multiple food sources.

From Science Daily

"In this case, we uncovered something that hasn't been described well by other models: if an ant has access to multiple food sources from its nest, it will initially make multiple trails to each of the sources."

From Science Daily

"I was intrigued by ant trail research that Dr. Karamched shared with me and became interested in pursuing further research on it and creating models based on this previous work."

From Science Daily

Foraging for resources is an essential process for the daily life of an ant colony, and ants will self-organize using chemical pheromones.

From Science Daily

Once an ant detects a food source, it secretes a chemical trail to lead other ants to the source.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• ant
• aphid
• bee
• beetle
• butterfly
• cockroach
• dragonfly
• flea
• fruit fly
• gnat
• grasshopper
• ladybug
• mite
• mosquito
• moth
• pest
• spider
• termite
• tick