English Explanatory Dictionary

weevil

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any of many tens of thousands of species of herbivorous beetles, ranging in size from tiny to large, in the superfamily Curculionoidea, the most characteristic species having the head projecting in a distinctive snout with the mouthparts at the tip.
  2. Any of many tens of thousands of species of herbivorous beetles of various sizes, in the family Curculionidae within the superfamily Curculionoidea.
  3. Any of many similar, but more distantly related, beetles such as the biscuit weevil (Stegobium paniceum).
  4. A loathsome person.

Pronunciation

/ˈwiːv(ə)l/ /ˈwiːvɪl/ en-au-weevil.ogg

Word forms

weevil weevils

Etymology

From Middle English wevel, from Old English wifel (“beetle”), from Proto-West Germanic *wibil, from Proto-Germanic *wibilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *webʰel-, from *(h₁)webʰ- (“to wave, to weave”), said to be from the woven appearance of a weevil’s larval case, + *-el-, *-l̥- (diminutive or attributive suffix); see also wave and weave. Compare Old Saxon *wivil (“beetle”); Middle Low German wevel; Old High German wibil, wipil (modern German Wiebel (“beetle; chafer”)); Lithuanian vãbalas (“beetle; weevil”); Old Norse vifill, as in tordyfill (“dung beetle, scarab”) (whence Dutch tortwevel; Icelandic tordýfill, Norwegian tordivel, Old English tordwifel, Swedish tordyvel); dialectal Russian ве́блица (véblica, “intestinal worm”).

Synonyms

snout beetle true weevil nunu

Derived words

acorn weevil alfalfa weevil apple blossom weevil apple flea weevil apple weevil ash weevil banana root weevil banana weevil bean weevil biscuit weevil black vine weevil black weevil boll weevil broad-bean weevil broad-nosed weevil cabbage seedpod weevil cabbage seed weevil carrot weevil chestnut weevil clover leaf weevil clover-seed weevil clover weevil coffee-bean weevil corn weevil cotton-boll weevil cowpea weevil dicky rice weevil drugstore weevil Egyptian alfalfa weevil fern weevil flax weevil flea weevil flour weevil flower weevil Fuller's rose weevil fungus weevil giraffe weevil gorse seed weevil gorse weevil grain weevil granary weevil grapevine weevil greater rice weevil lesser clover leaf weevil maize weevil mango weevil New York weevil New Zealand giraffe weevil ngaio weevil nut weevil pales weevil palmetto weevil palm weevil peach weevil pea weevil pecan weevil pepper weevil pine gall weevil pine reproduction weevil pine root-collar weevil

Translations

Asturian: gorgoyu Belarusian: даўгано́сік Belarusian: сло́нік Belarusian: шашо́лка Burmese: ဆင်ပိုး Catalan: corc Catalan: fraró Catalan: morrut Chinese Mandarin: 象鼻蟲 /象鼻虫 Czech: nosatec Czech: pilous Dutch: snuitkever Esperanto: kalandro Esperanto: grenskarabo Finnish: kärsäkäsmäinen French: charançon French: balanin French: cosson Galician: gurgullo Galician: congorxo German: Rüsselkäfer Greek: βρούχος Ancient Greek: κίς Hungarian: ormányosbogár Hungarian: zsizsik Icelandic: væfla Icelandic: ranabjalla Italian: curculione Italian: calandra Italian: balanino Japanese: 象虫 Japanese: ゾウムシ Old Javanese: bubuk Kabuverdianu: gurgudju Korean: 바구미 Latin: curculiō Malay: bubuk Māori: pepeke nguturoa Navajo: tsé neiʼáhí Plautdietsch: Kornworm Polish: ryjkowiec Portuguese: gorgulho Russian: долгоно́сик Serbo-Croatian: žižak Spanish: gorgojo Swedish: vivel Ottoman Turkish: سوس Ukrainian: довгоно́сик Ukrainian: сло́ник Welsh: gwiddonyn
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