ant
/ænt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.86 in modern English
3
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any of various insects in the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera, typically living in large colonies composed almost entirely of flightless females.
noun
A Web spider.
verb
To rub insects, especially ants, on one's body, perhaps to control parasites or clean feathers.
name
A diminutive of the male given name Anthony, from Latin.
name
Anthropic (American artificial intelligence company)
name
Example Sentences
- "The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters […]. But the priciest items in the market aren't the armadillo steaks or even the bluefin tuna. That would be the frozen chicatanas – giant winged ants – at around $500 a kilo."
- "Wild birds tend to ant and sunbathe most frequently during periods of high humidity, particularly right after heavy or prolonged rainfall in summer."
- "if ant and oai IPO in 2026 there will be no permanent underclass. the IPO of the labs is one of the best things that can happen for average person's economic future* ¶ *unless it's a bubble lol"
- "have heard from a few ppl now who've been rejected by anthropic for not recalling exact syntax ¶ seems absurd at face value but remember Ant has one of the most talent dense applicant pools which permits them to be as absurd or nonsensical as they like & still be no worse off"
- "[Image shows an incoming text: To clarify, when you say "ant" do you mean Anthropic or an actual ant? Screenshotter's reply: Why the fuck would I mean Anthropic here] take me out of sf bro"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *āmaitijā Old English ǣmete Middle English ampte English ant From Middle English ampte, amte, amete, amote, ante, emete, emot, emotte, empt, empte, from Old English ǣmete, ǣmette, ǣmytte, ǣmætte (“ant”), from Proto-West Germanic *āmaitijā (“ant”), of uncertain and debated origin (q.v.), but probably from Proto-Germanic *ē- (“off, away”) + *maitaną (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂y- (“to cut”). See also emmet. Cognates Cognate with Yola emotee, emothee (“ant”), West Frisian eamel, eamelder, eameler (“ant”), Alemannic German Ameisse (“ant”), Bavarian Åmasn, Åmeisn (“ant”), Cimbrian amasa (“ant”), Dutch emt (“ant”), German Ameise, Emse (“ant”), Low German Emk (“ant”), Vilamovian ömys (“ant”), Yiddish אַמייזע (ameyze, “ant”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ænt/
- British English: /ænt/
Usage
- American usage
- Countable
- Uncountable