weevil

English

WOTD – 18 June 2017

A boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis), a weevil (sense 2) that feeds on cotton buds and flowers

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwiːv(ə)l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwiːvɪl/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːvəl
• Hyphenation: wee‧vil

Noun

weevil (plural weevils)

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. (figurative, derogatory) A loathsome person.
   • 1950, Jack Lindsay, Fires in Smithfield. A Novel of Mary Tudor’s Reign, London: The Bodley Head, →OCLC, page 201:

     But you accuse other men of villainy with too easy a tongue, you weevil. I have never wanted you in this matter, and I have said so.

Synonyms

• (beetle of the family Curculionidae): snout beetle, true weevil, nunu

Derived terms

• acorn weevil (Curculio spp.)
• alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica)
• apple blossom weevil (Anthonomus pomorum)
• apple flea weevil (Rhynchaenus pallicornis)
• banana root weevil, banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus)
• bean weevil (Bruchinae spp., Acanthoscelides obtectus, et al.)
• biscuit weevil (Stegobium paniceum)
• black vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus)
• black weevil (Sitophilus oryzae)
• boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis)
• broad-bean weevil (Bruchus rufimanus)
• broad-nosed weevil (Entiminae spp.)
• cabbage seedpod weevil, cabbage seed weevil (species)
• carrot weevil (Listronotus oregonensis)
• chestnut weevil (Curculio auriger, C. proboscideus)
• clover leaf weevil (Hypera punctata)
• clover-seed weevil (Tychius picirostris)
• clover weevil (Protapion apricans, syn. Apion apricans)
• coffee-bean weevil (Araecerus fasciculatus)
• corn weevil (Sitophilus granarius)
• cotton-boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis)
• cowpea weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus)
• dicky rice weevil (Malenterpes spinipes)
• drugstore weevil (Stegobium paniceum)
• Egyptian alfalfa weevil (Hypera brunneipennis)
• fern weevil (Syagrius fulvitarsis)
• flax weevil (Anagotus fairburni)
• flea weevil (Rhamphini spp.)
• flour weevil (Tribolium spp. et al.)
• flower weevil (Baridinae spp.)
• Fuller's rose weevil (Pantomorus godmani)
• fungus weevil (Anthribidae spp.)
• giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa)
• gorse seed weevil, gorse weevil (Exapion ulicis, syn. Apion ulicis)
• grain weevil, granary weevil (Sitophilus granarius)
• greater rice weevil (Sitophilus zeamais)
• lesser clover leaf weevil (Hypera nigrirostris)
• maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais)
• mango weevil (Sternochetus mangiferae)
• New York weevil (Ithycerus noveboracensis)
• New Zealand giraffe weevil (Lasiorhynchus barbicornis)
• nut weevil (Curculio spp.)
• pales weevil (Hylobius pales)
• palmetto weevil (Rhynchophorus cruentatus)
• palm weevil (Rhynchophorus spp.)
• peach weevil (Ithycercus noveboracensis)
• pea weevil (Acanthoscelides obtectus)
• pecan weevil (Curculio caryae)
• pepper weevil (Anthonomus eugenii)
• pine gall weevil (Podapion gallicola)
• pine reproduction weevil (Cylindrocopturus eatoni)
• pine root-collar weevil (Hylobius radicis)
• pine weevil (Hylobius abietis)
• plum weevil (Conotrachelus nenuphar)
• potato weevil (Trichobaris trinotata)
• rice water weevil (Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus)
• rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae)
• root weevil (Baryopadus spp. et al.)
• rose weevil (Pantomorus godmani)
• seed weevil (Bruchinae)
• Sitka spruce weevil (Pissodes sitchensis)
• square weevil (Anthonomus vestitus)
• strawberry root weevil (Otiorhynchus ovatus)
• strawberry weevil (Anthonomus signatus)
• sunflower seed weevil (Desmoris spp.)
• sweetclover weevil (Sitona cylindricollis)
• sweet potato weevil (Cylas formicarius)
• thurberia weevil (Anthonomus grandis thurberiae)
• true weevil (Curculionidae spp.)
• vegetable weevil (Listroderes obliquus)
• vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus)
• walnut weevil (Conotrachelus retentus et al.)
• water weevil (Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus)
• weevily
• West Indian cane weevil (Metamasius hemipterus)
• wheat weevil (Sitophilus granarius)
• white-fringed weevil (Naupactus leucoloma, syns. Pantomorus leucoloma, Graphognathus leucoloma)
• white-pine weevil (Pissodes strobi)

 

Translations

beetle in the superfamily Curculionoidea

• Belarusian: даўгано́сік m (daŭhanósik), сло́нік m (slónik), шашо́лка f (šašólka)
• Burmese: ဆင်ပိုး (my) (hcangpui:)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 象鼻蟲／象鼻虫 (zh) (xiàngbíchóng)

• Czech: nosatec m, pilous (cs) m
• Dutch: snuitkever (nl) m
• Esperanto: kalandro, grenskarabo
• Finnish: kärsäkäsmäinen
• French: charançon (fr) m, balanin (fr), cosson (fr)
• Galician: gurgullo m, congorxo m
• German: Rüsselkäfer m
• Greek:

  Ancient: κίς m (kís)

• Hungarian: ormányosbogár (hu), zsizsik (hu)
• Italian: curculione (it) m, calandra (it), balanino (it)
• Japanese: 象虫 (ja) (ぞうむし, zōmushi), ゾウムシ (zōmushi)
• Kabuverdianu: gurgudju
• Korean: 바구미 (ko) (bagumi)
• Latin: curculiō (la) m
• Malay: bubuk (ms)
• Maori: pepeke nguturoa
• Navajo: tsé neiʼáhí
• Old Javanese: bubuk
• Polish: ryjkowiec m
• Portuguese: gorgulho (pt) m
• Russian: долгоно́сик (ru) m (dolgonósik)
• Serbo-Croatian: žižak (sh) m
• Spanish: gorgojo (es) m
• Swedish: vivel (sv) c
• Ukrainian: довгоно́сик m (dovhonósyk), сло́ник m (slónyk)
• Welsh: gwiddonyn m

beetle in the family Curculionidae

• Belarusian: даўгано́сік m (daŭhanósik), сло́нік m (slónik), шашо́лка f (šašólka)
• Bulgarian: гъгрица (bg) f (gǎgrica), хоботник m (hobotnik)
• Catalan: morrut (ca) m
• Dutch: snuitkever (nl) m
• Estonian: kärsakas
• Faroese: trantklukka f
• Finnish: kärsäkäs (fi)
• Galician: gurgullo m
• German: Rüsselkäfer m
• Greek:

  Ancient: κίς m (kís)

• Kabuverdianu: gurgudju
• Kapampangan: bukbuk
• Navajo: tsé neiʼáhí
• Portuguese: gorgulho (pt)
• Spanish: gorgojo (es) m, picudo m
• Swedish: vivel (sv) c
• Ukrainian: довгоно́сик m (dovhonósyk), сло́ник m (slónyk)
• Welsh: gwiddonyn m

similar beetle

• Finnish: kuoriainen (fi)

loathsome person

• Finnish: nilviäinen (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hausa: ^{(please verify)} mā̀yā m