wasp

Pronunciation: /wɒsp/

The English word “wasp” has 5 meanings listed here.

noun

Any of many types of stinging flying insect resembling a hornet.
Any of the members of suborder Apocrita, excepting the ants (family Formicidae) and bees (clade Anthophila).
Any of the members of the family Vespidae.
A person who behaves in an angry or insolent way, hence waspishly.

verb

To move like a wasp; to buzz.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English wappes, waps, wasp, waspe, from Old English wæfs, wæps, wæsp, from Proto-West Germanic *wapsu, from Proto-Germanic *wapsō (“wasp”), from Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂ (“wasp”), from *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”), referring to the insect's woven nests. Cognates Cognate with North Frisian wesp (“wasp”), Saterland Frisian Häspe (“wasp”), West Frisian waps (“wasp”),…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.