aphid

Meaning

A sap-sucking insect pest of the superfamily Aphidoidea; an aphidian.

Synonyms

plant louse

aphis

plant lice

greenfly

plant-louse

green-fly

louse

ant cow

aphids

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈeɪ.fɪd/

Etymology

From New Latin aphis (plural aphides), coined by Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1758. His inspiration for the name remains unclear. OED suggests a connection to Ancient Greek ἀφειδής (apheidḗs, “unsparing, lavishly borrowed”) in reference to the insects' voracity or rapid rate of production, from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + φείδομαι (pheídomai, “to spare, be thrifty, be merciful”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”). Doublet of aphis.