Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of numerous parasitic wasps of the family Ichneumonidae, with larvae that are parasitoids of other insects and females that have long ovipositors.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A carnivorous mammal, a kind of mungoose (Viverra ichneumon of Linnæus, now known as Herpestes ichneumon), found in Egypt, belonging to the subfamily Herpestinæ and family Viverridæ.
- noun [capitalized] A genus of herpestine viverrine mammals, containing the species I. pharaonis. See
Herpestes . - noun In entomology:
- noun [capitalized] A Linnean genus of hymenopterous insects, formerly including most of the pupivorous or parasitic hymenopters, now restricted to certain species of ichneumon-flies which are regarded as typical of the genuine Ichneumonidæ.
- noun A species of the genus Ichneumon or family Ichneumonidæ; an ichneumon-fly; a cuckoo-fly.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) 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 themongoose , has similar habits and is often domesticated. It is noted for killing the cobra. - noun (Zoöl.) Any hymenopterous insect of the family
Ichneumonidæ , of which several thousand species are known, belonging to numerous genera. - noun See
Ichneumon , 2.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The Egyptian mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon, found in Africa and southern Europe.
- noun The
ichneumon wasp .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun northern African mongoose; in ancient times thought to devour crocodile eggs
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Now, _why_ should not the gray Indian mongoose (formerly called the ichneumon, _ (Herpestes griscus_)) destroy poultry in India, as it does elsewhere?
Our Vanishing Wild Life Its Extermination and Preservation William Temple Hornaday 1895
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And when the hydrus, which is a kind of ichneumon, perceives this, it penetrates into its mouth, which the bird has caused to open, and descends into its stomach, where it devours its entrails, and then comes forth again.
The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus During the Reigns of the Emperors Constantius, Julian, Jovianus, Valentinian, and Valens Ammianus Marcellinus 1851
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Go back to Aristotle, and we may listen to him again while he talks of many other kindred insects: of the humble-bee and its kind, of the mason-bee with its hard round nest of clay, of the robber-bees, and of the various wasps and hornets; or (still more curiously and unexpectedly) of the hunter-wasp or 'ichneumon', and how it kills the spider, carries it home to its nest, and lays its eggs in its poor body, that the little wasp-grubs may afterwards be fed.
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This may be a misunderstanding of the mythical conflict between the sun god Ra in the form of an ichneumon and Apophis in the form of a crocodile or a snake. see link.
Archive 2009-03-01 2009
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The legendary cruelty of ichneumon wasps also the related digger wasps and tarantula wasps is a leitmotif which will recur in the final two chapters of the book.
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009
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The legendary cruelty of ichneumon wasps also the related digger wasps and tarantula wasps is a leitmotif which will recur in the final two chapters of the book.
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009
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They say there is no creature in nature, however seemingly malign, which doesn't have a benign impact somewhere the ichneumon wasp would seem to come close.
:Acquired Taste Tim Stretton 2009
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This may be a misunderstanding of the mythical conflict between the sun god Ra in the form of an ichneumon and Apophis in the form of a crocodile or a snake. see link.
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They say there is no creature in nature, however seemingly malign, which doesn't have a benign impact somewhere the ichneumon wasp would seem to come close.
Archive 2009-09-01 Tim Stretton 2009
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The ichneumon fly, for example, uses spiders and aphids to host its young.
The Lovers John Connolly 2009
chained_bear commented on the word ichneumon
Seen here.
August 26, 2008
ruzuzu commented on the word ichneumon
From the examples:
“Go back to Aristotle, and we may listen to him again while he talks of many other kindred insects: of the humble-bee and its kind, of the mason-bee with its hard round nest of clay, of the robber-bees, and of the various wasps and hornets; or (still more curiously and unexpectedly) of the hunter-wasp or 'ichneumon', and how it kills the spider, carries it home to its nest, and lays its eggs in its poor body, that the little wasp-grubs may afterwards be fed.”
The Legacy of Greece Essays By: Gilbert Murray, W. R. Inge, J. Burnet, Sir T. L. Heath, D'arcy W. Thompson, Charles Singer, R. W. Livingston, A. Toynbee, A. E. Zimmern, Percy Gardner, Sir Reginald Blomfield
January 22, 2013