formicary

[ fawr-mi-ker-ee ]

noun

, plural for·mi·car·ies.

1. an ant nest.

formicary

/ ˌfɔːmɪˈkɛərɪəm; ˈfɔːmɪkərɪ /

noun

1. less common names for ant hill

Word History and Origins

Origin of formicary¹

1810–20; < Medieval Latin formīcārium ant hill, noun use of neuter of *formīcārius of, pertaining to ants. See formic, -arium

Word History and Origins

Origin of formicary¹

C19: from Medieval Latin formīcārium see formic

Example Sentences

The Ewing home at Southfork Ranch, where eight members of one of Texas' wealthiest families contrive to live under one roof, resembles a formicary of Neiman-Marcus showrooms.

From Time Magazine Archive

The nifty new predators are South American red ants, which Spielberg and Lucas may have remembered from the 1954 movie The Naked Jungle, and which can swarm over a man by the millions and drag him into their formicary for a nice fat meal.

From Time Magazine Archive

She was moving back and forth with cautious mien, and I easily perceived was putting finishing touches to the closure of a little hole that marked the gate of her formicary hut.

From Project Gutenberg

Encampments of ants dressed out in uniforms quite unlike those worn by the Formicary legions in Italy; gossamer cradles nursing progenies of our Cisalpine caterpillars, and spiders with new arrangements of their eight pairs of eyes, forming new arrangements of meshes, and hunting new flies, are here.

From Project Gutenberg

The formicary of this Camponotus often extends over several square rods, with large entrances at various points, all connected by underground galleries, requiring a great amount of labor to construct them; while each colony of the harvesting-ant has a close, compact nest or formicary, requiring much less work to construct it.

From Project Gutenberg