| 释义 |
cicada|sɪˈkeɪdə, -ɑːdə|
Also 5 cicade.
[L. cicāda; see also cicad.]
1. A homopterous insect with large transparent wings, living on trees or shrubs; the male is noted for its power of making a shrill chirping sound, much appreciated by the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Nearly all the species are inhabitants of tropical or the warmer temperate regions. Only one small species has been found (in the New Forest) in England. Called by the Greeks τέττιξ, which, like cicada and cigale, is often erroneously rendered ‘grasshopper’.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 317 Þere beeþ also cicade bryddes þat syngeþ at þe beste, and haueþ a pipe open vnder þe þrote. 1813Bingley Anim. Biog. III. 177 The American Locust. This species of Cicada is at all times very common in Pennsylvania. 1819G. Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 229 Cicada..the only species known to inhabit this country was lately discovered by Mr. Daniel Bydder near the New Forest. 1820T. Mitchell Aristoph. I. 285 He deigns in his hair The cicada to wear. 1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. i, The tree-frog and cicada are silent. 1866Cornh. Mag. Nov. 538 Under olive boughs in which cicadas sing.
2. Comb. cicada-killer, a large American digger-wasp, Sphecius speciosus, which kills the annual cicada and stores it as food.
1895Comstock Study Insects 653. |