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Origin and history of aphid

aphid(n.)

1849, Englished from Modern Latin aphides, plural of aphis, coined by Linnaeus (1758), though where he got it and why he applied it to the plant louse are mysteries. The theory favored by OED as "least improbable" is that it derives from the plural of Greek apheidēs "unsparing, lavishly bestowed," in reference either to the "prodigious rate of production" of the insects or their voracity. The colloquial name was ant-cow (1847). Related: Aphidian (1855).

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Trends of aphid

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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Middle English fader, from Old English fæder "he who begets a child, nearest male ancestor;" also "any lineal male ancestor; the Supreme Being," and by late Old English, "one who exercises parental care over another," from Proto-Germanic *fader (source also of Old Saxon fadar, Ol

c. 1200, materie, "the subject of a mental act or a course of thought, speech, or expression," from Anglo-French matere, Old French matere "subject, theme, topic; substance, content; character, education" (12c., Modern French matière) and directly from Latin materia "substance fr

c. 1300, gral, "the Holy Grail," from Old French graal, greal "Holy Grail; cup," earlier "large shallow dish, basin," from Medieval Latin gradalis, also gradale, grasale, "a flat dish or shallow vessel." The original form is uncertain; the word is perhaps ultimately from Latin cr

"small migratory bird of the Old World, noted for the male's melodious song, heard by night as well as day," Middle English nighte-gale, from Old English næctigalæ, in late Old English nihtegale, a compound formed in Proto-Germanic (compare Dutch nachtegaal, German Nachtigall) fr

Old English Sætern, name of the Roman god, also, in astronomy, the name of the most remote planet (then known); from Latin Saturnus, originally a name of an Italic god of agriculture, possibly from Etruscan. Derivation from Latin serere (past participle satus) "to sow" is said to

1715, glamer, Scottish, "magic, enchantment" (especially in phrase to cast the glamour), a variant of Scottish gramarye "magic, enchantment, spell," said to be an alteration of English grammar (q.v.) in a specialized use of that word's medieval sense of "any sort of scholarship,

late 13c., "musical instrument, mechanical apparatus for producing musical sounds," from Old French instrument, enstrument "means, device; musical instrument" (14c., earlier estrument, 13c.) and directly from Latin instrumentum "a tool, an implement; means, furtherance; apparatus

c. 1300, "examine judiciously, discover by evaluation, test;" mid-14c., "sit in judgment of," also "attempt to do," from Anglo-French trier (13c.), from Old French trier "to pick out, cull" (12c.), from Gallo-Roman *triare, of unknown origin. The ground sense is "separate out (th

1650s, "a drawing of the outline of anything," especially "a representation of the human face in side view," from older Italian profilo "a drawing in outline," from profilare "to draw in outline," from pro "forth" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward") + filare "draw out, spin," fro

"attentive, devoted, constant in application," 1530s, from Latin assiduus "attending; continually present, incessant; busy; constant," from assidere/adsidere "to sit down to, sit by" (thus "be constantly occupied" at one's work); from ad "to" (see ad-) + sedere "to sit" (from PIE

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