aphis

noun

ˈā-fəs 

also ˈa-fəs

plural aphides ˈā-fə-ˌdēz 

ˈa-fə-

: any of a genus (Aphis) of aphids

broadly : aphid

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin Aphid-, stem of Aphis, genus name, of obscure origin

Note: The genus name Aphis was introduced by linnaeus in Systema naturae, Edition decima, Tomus I (Stockholm, 1758), p. 451. No indication of origin or earlier use of the name is given. As the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, notes, a number of purely speculative Greek etymologies are adduced by George Bowdler Bucton in Monograph of the British Aphides, vol. 1 (London, 1876), pp. 4-5.

First Known Use

1763, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

aphis

noun

ˈā-fəs 

ˈaf-əs

plural aphides ˈā-fə-ˌdēz 

ˈaf-ə-

: aphid