Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

locust

/ˈloʊ.kəst/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.00 in modern English

Syllables
lo-cust
IPA
/ˈloʊ.kəst/
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any of the grasshoppers, often polyphenic and usually swarming, in the family Acrididae that are very destructive to crops and other vegetation, especially migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria).

noun

A fruit or pod of a carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua).

noun

Any of various often leguminous trees and shrubs, especially of the genera Robinia and Gleditsia; locust tree.

noun

A cicada.

noun

A mainlander.

Derogatory; Offensive

noun

A dose of laudanum.

British usage; Obsolete; Slang

verb

To come in a swarm.

Intransitive verb

name

A surname.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *lek-der.? Latin locusta Anglo-Norman locustebor. Middle English locuste English locust Inherited from Middle English locuste, locust, from Anglo-Norman locuste, Middle French locuste, and their source, Latin locustam (“locust, crustacean, lobster”, accusative of locusta). Doublet of langouste. Noun sense 3 (“kind of tree”), originally referring to the carob (compare locust bean), is based on the resemblance of the trees' beanlike seed pods to the insect and is likely a semantic loan from Ancient Greek ἀκρίς (akrís). Noun sense 5 (“mainlander”) is a semantic loan from Cantonese 蝗蟲 /蝗虫 (wong4 cung4), also meaning "locust".

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: locuste, locustam

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈloʊ.kəst/
  • British English: /ˈləʊ.kəst/

Usage

Inflected Forms

locusts (plural) locusts (present, singular) locusting (participle, present) locusted (participle, past) locusted (past)

Derived Forms

antilocust locustal locustlike

Phrases

African locust American locust Australian plague locust bald locust black locust Bombay locust bristly locust brown locust

Synonyms

locust tree

Rhymes With

focused focussed unfocused refocused

Questions

How do you pronounce locust?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈloʊ.kəst/.
What does locust mean?
Any of the grasshoppers, often polyphenic and usually swarming, in the family Acrididae that are very destructive to crops and other vegetation, especially migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria).
Where does locust come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce locust

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “locust”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈloʊ.kəst/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “locust”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “locust” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.