Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Ichneumon
Ich-neu′mon
,Noun.
[L., fr. Gr. [GREEK], lit., the tracker; so called because it hunts out the eggs of the crocodile, fr. [GREEK] to track or hunt after, fr.
ἴχνοσ
track, footstep.] 1.
(Zool.)
Any carnivorous mammal of the genus
Herpestes
, and family Viverridæ
. Numerous species are found in Asia and Africa. The Egyptian species (Herpestes ichneumon
), which ranges to Spain and Palestine, is noted for destroying the eggs and young of the crocodile as well as various snakes and lizards, and hence was considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians. The common species of India (Herpestes griseus
), known as the mongoose
, has similar habits and is often domesticated. It is noted for killing the cobra. 2.
(Zool.)
Any hymenopterous insect of the family
Ichneumonidæ
, of which several thousand species are known, belonging to numerous genera. ☞ The female deposits her eggs upon, or in, the bodies of other insects, such as caterpillars, plant lice, etc. The larva lives upon the internal tissues of the insect in which it is parasitic, and finally kills it. Hence, many of the species are beneficial to agriculture by destroying noxious insects.
Ichneumon fly
. See
Ichneumon
, 2.Webster 1828 Edition
Ichneumon
ICHNEU'MON
,Noun.
An animal of the genus Viverra, or weasel kind. It has a tail tapering to a point, and its toes are distant from each other. It inhabits Egypt, Barbary and India. It destroys the most venomous serpents, and seeks the eggs of the crocodile, digging them out of the sand, eating them and destroying the young. In India and Egypt, this animal is domesticated and kept for destroying rats and mice.
Ichneumon-fly, a genus of flies, of the order of hymenopters, containing several hundred species. These animals have jaws, but no tongue; the antennae have more than thirty joints, and are kept in continual motion. The abdomen is generally petiolated, or joined to the body by a pedicle. These animals are great destroyers of caterpillars, plant-lice and other insects, as the ichneumon is of the eggs and young of the crocodile.
Definition 2024
ichneumon
ichneumon
English
Noun
ichneumon (plural ichneumons)
- The Egyptian mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon, found in Africa and southern Europe.
- 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II.12:
- when the Ichneumon is to grapple with the Crocodile, he walloweth his body in the mire, then lets the same drie and harden upon him […].
- 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II.12:
- The ichneumon wasp.
- 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 43:
- Ada's unique Lorelei Underwing had died, paralyzed by some ichneumon that had not been deceived by those clever prominences and fungoid smudges.
- 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 43:
Related terms
Translations
Herpestes ichneumon
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