inseto

Portuguese

Um inseto (abelha)

Alternative forms

• insecto (pre-1990 spelling)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁en-

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Italic *en

Old Latin en

Latin in

Latin in-

Proto-Indo-European *sek-der.

Latin secō

Latin īnsecō

Latin īnsectus

Latin īnsectumlbor.

Portuguese inseto

Learned borrowing from Latin īnsectō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ĩˈsɛ.tu/

• Rhymes: -ɛtu
• Hyphenation: in‧se‧to
• Homophone: enceto (Brazil)

Noun

inseto m (plural insetos)

1. insect (arthropod of class Insecta)
   • 1712, Rafael Bluteau, “coraçam”, in Vocabulario Portuguez e Latino [Portuguese and Latin Vocabulary]‎^[1], volume 2, Coimbra: Real Collegio das Artes da Companhia de Jesu, page 539, column 2:

     Na Anatomia do Bicho da ſeda obſervarão os Phyſicos de Inglaterra huma cadea de coraçoens, por todo o comprimento do corpo deſte inſecto.

     On the silkworm's anatomy, the naturalists of England have observed a chain of hearts that goes through all the insect's lenght.

2. (somewhat dated) insect; bug (any small arthropod)

   Synonym: bicho

3. (derogatory) insect (a contemptible or powerless person)

Derived terms

• anti-insetos
• desinsetizar
• insetário
• inseticida
• inseto social
• insetocutor
• insetologia
• insetólogo

 

Descendants

• → Tetum: insetu

Further reading

• “inseto”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024
• “inseto”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2024