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Origin and history of emmet

emmet(n.)

"ant," from Old English æmete (see ant), surviving as a dialect word in parts of England; also, according to OED, in Cornwall a colloquial name for holiday tourists.

Entries linking to emmet

ant(n.)

c. 1500 shortening of Middle English ampte (late 14c.), from Old English æmette "ant," from West Germanic *emaitjon (source also of Old High German ameiza, German Ameise) from a compound of Germanic *e-, *ai- "off, away" + *mai- "cut," from PIE root *mai- (1) "to cut" (see maim). Thus the insect's name is, etymologically, "the biter-off."

As þycke as ameten crepeþ in an amete hulle [chronicle of Robert of Gloucester, 1297]

Emmet survived into 20c. as an alternative form. By a similar contraction, aunt "a parent's sister" is from Latin amita. White ant "termite" is from 1729. To have ants in one's pants "be nervous and fidgety" is from 1934, made current by a popular song; antsy embodies the same notion.

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    Trends of emmet

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

    More to explore

    pismire
    "ant," late 14c., pisse-mire (early 14c. as a surname, Henricus pessemere), from pyss "urine" (said to be in reference to the acrid smell of an anthill) + mire "an ant" (mid-13c., early 13c. as a surname), perhaps from an unattested Old English word or from Old Norse maurr "ant"
    horseradish
    The "London Encyclopaedia" (1829) has horse emmet for a large kind of ant and horse marten "a kind of large bee."...
    tan
    c. 1400, tannen, in part from late Old English tannian "convert hides into leather" (by steeping them in liquid containing tannin), from Medieval Latin tannare "tan, dye a tawny color" (c. 900), from tannum "crushed oak bark," used in tanning leather. This is believed to be from
    hybrid
    c. 1600, "offspring of plants or animals of different variety or species," from Latin hybrida, variant of ibrida "mongrel," specifically "offspring of a tame sow and a wild boar," of unknown origin but probably from Greek and somehow related to hubris. A rare word before the gene
    authentic
    mid-14c., autentik, "authoritative, duly authorized" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French autentique "authentic; canonical" (13c., Modern French authentique) and directly from Medieval Latin authenticus, from Greek authentikos "original, genuine, principal," from authentes "on
    romance
    c. 1300, romaunce, "a story, written or recited, in verse, telling of the adventures of a knight, hero, etc.," often one designed principally for entertainment, from Old French romanz "verse narrative" (Modern French roman), also "the vulgar language." It was originally an adverb
    metaphor
    "figure of speech by which a characteristic of one object is assigned to another, different but resembling  it or analogous to it; comparison by transference of a descriptive word or phrase," late 15c., methaphoris (plural), from French metaphore (Old French metafore, 13c.)
    inflation
    mid-14c., "swelling caused by gathering of 'wind' in the body; flatulence," also, figuratively, "outbursts of pride," from Latin inflationem (nominative inflatio) "a puffing up, a blowing into; flatulence," noun of action from past-participle stem of inflare "blow into, puff up,"
    icon
    also ikon, 1570s, "image, figure, picture," also "statue," from Late Latin icon, from Greek eikon "likeness, image, portrait; image in a mirror; a semblance, phantom image;" in philosophy, "an image in the mind," related to eikenai "be like, look like," which is of uncertain orig
    pretend
    late 14c., pretenden, "to profess, put forward as a statement or assertion, maintain" (a claim, etc.), "to direct (one's) efforts," from Old French pretendre "to lay claim," from Latin praetendere "stretch in front, spread before, put forward; put forward as an excuse, allege," f

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    Dictionary entries near emmet
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