ichneumon

English

Etymology

FromLatinichneumōn,fromAncient Greekἰχνεύμων(ikhneúmōn,“tracker”),fromἴχνος(íkhnos,“track, footstep”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ɪkˈnjuːmən/

Noun

ichneumon(pluralichneumons)

1. AnEgyptian mongoose(Herpestes ichneumon), found in Africa and southern Europe.

   Synonym:nems

   • 1603,Michel de Montaigne,chapter 12, inJohn Florio,transl.,The Essayes[…],book II, London:[…]Val[entine]SimmesforEdward Blount[…],→OCLC:

     when theIchneumonis to grapple with the Crocodile, he walloweth his body in the mire, then lets the same drie and harden upon him[…].

2. Anichneumon wasp.
   • 1969,Vladimir Nabokov,Ada or Ardor,Penguin, published2011,page43:

     Ada's unique Lorelei Underwing had died, paralyzed by someichneumonthat had not been deceived by those clever prominences and fungoid smudges.

3. (mythology)a legendaryanimal,which killscrocodilesanddragons

Derived terms

• ichneumoned
• ichneumonized
• ichneumonology

Related terms

• ichnology
• ichnogram
• ichneumia

Translations

Herpestes ichneumon

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

  Egyptian Arabic:نمسm(nims)

• Armenian:

  Old Armenian:ինքնիմոն(inkʻnimon)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Ai cập mông(Āijí měng)

• Dutch:ichneumonm
• Egyptian:(ḫꜣtrwm)
• Finnish:egyptinmungo,faaraorotta
• Georgian:

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

• German:Ichneumonmorn
• Greek:

  Ancient:ἰχνεύμωνm(ikhneúmōn)

• Latin:ichneumonm
• Old English:nǣderbitam
• Portuguese:saca-rabosm
• Romanian:ihneumon(ro)m
• Russian:ихневмо́н(ru)m(ixnevmón),фарао́нова кры́саf(faraónova krýsa),еги́петский мангу́стm(jegípetskij mangúst)
• Sanskrit:नकुल(sa)m(nakula)
• Spanish:meloncillom
• Swedish:faraokatt(sv)c,faraoråtta(sv)c,egyptisk mungo(sv)c
• Telugu:ముంగిస(te)(muṅgisa)
• Welsh:llygoden Ffarof,llygoden Ffrengig yr Aifft,ichnewmonm

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ik.nø.mɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

ichneumonm(pluralichneumons)

1. ichneumon

Further reading

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

Latin

Etymology

FromAncient Greekἰχνεύμων(ikhneúmōn,“tracker”),fromἴχνος(íkhnos,“track, footstep”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

ichneumōnm(genitiveichneumonis);third declension

1. Egyptian mongoose,Herpestes ichneumon
   • ...deinde internecivum bellum cumichneumone.
     ...and in the next place she has given it war to the death with theichneumon.

     Pliny the Elder,Natural History,VIII.35

2. ichneumon wasp,ichneumon fly
   • ...mustela et cornix, turtur et pyrallis,ichneumonesvespae et phalangia aranei...
     ...the weasel and the crow, the turtle-dove and the pyrallis,ichneumon-fliesand spiders...

     Pliny the Elder,Natural History,X.95

3. (mythology)a legendary animal, which killscrocodiles

Declension

Third-declensionnoun.

	singular	plural
nominative	ichneumōn	ichneumonēs
genitive	ichneumonis	ichneumonum
dative	ichneumonī	ichneumonibus
accusative	ichneumonem	ichneumonēs
ablative	ichneumone	ichneumonibus
vocative	ichneumōn	ichneumonēs

References

• “ichneumon”,inCharlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879)A Latin Dictionary,Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ichneumoninGaffiot, Félix (1934)Dictionnaire illustré latin-français,Hachette.