aphid

Definition

A sap-sucking insect pest of the superfamily Aphidoidea; an aphidian.

Etymology

From New Latin aphis (plural aphides), coined by Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1758. His inspiration for the name remains unclear; OED suggests it might stem from a misreading of Ancient Greek κορις (koris, “bug”) (see diagram), in which case the nominative -ις (-is) suffix was reanalyzed as -ις, -ιδος (-is, -idos); while AHD suggests a connection to Ancient Greek ἀφειδής (apheidḗs, “unsparing, lavishly borrowed”) in reference to the insects' voracity or rapid rate of production, from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + φείδομαι (pheídomai, “to spare, be thrifty, be merciful”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”). Doublet of aphis.

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