wasp

Meaning

Noun

1. Any of many types of stinging flying insect resembling a hornet.
2. Any of the members of suborder Apocrita, excepting the ants (family Formicidae) and bees (clade Anthophila).
3. Any of the members of suborder Apocrita, excepting the ants (family Formicidae) and bees (clade Anthophila).
4. A person who behaves in an angry or insolent way, hence waspishly.

Verb

To move like a wasp; to buzz.

Synonyms

hornet

bee

🐝

yellow jacket

yellowjacket

fly

✈️

insect

helicopter

🚁

hornets

social

wasps

etc.

paper wasp

mason wasp

wild bee

honey

🍯

bumblebee

Translations

avispa

guêpe

Wespe

vespa

wesp

vespa

σφήκα

vespa

vespa

yaban arısı

ape

🐝

vèspa

Biene

🐝

abeja

🐝

Pronounced as (IPA)

/wɒsp/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: wasp

Inherited from Old English: wæsp

Cognate with Dutch: wesp

Cognate with German: Wespe

Cognate with Danish: hveps

In summary

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *webʰ-
Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂
Proto-Germanic *wapsō
Proto-West Germanic *wapsu
Old English wæps
Middle English wasp
English wasp
Inherited from Middle English wasp, waspe, waps, from Old English wæsp, wæps, from Proto-West Germanic *wapsu, from Proto-Germanic *wapsō, from Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂ (“wasp”), from *webʰ- (“to weave”), referring to the insect's woven nests.
Compare Dutch wesp, German Wespe, Danish hveps. Metathesis of /s/ and /p/ was both a process of some generality within English (compare grasp from Middle English grapsen, and—affecting other plosives—ascian ~ acsian (“to ask”)) and common in the reflexes of *wóps-eh₂ (“wasp”) in particular, as the aforementioned Germanic cognates (and non-Germanic cognates like Latin vespa) evince.