haltere
UK/ˈhæltɪə/US/ˈhæltɪɹ/
haltere noun: a small knobbed structure in some two-winged insects, one of a pair that are flapped rapidly and function as accelerometers to maintain stability in flight.
Noun
haltere (plural halteres)
- A small knobbed structure in some two-winged insects, one of a pair that are flapped rapidly and function as accelerometers to maintain stability in flight.
- Whenever the fly changes direction at an angle to the hinge, the shaking bends the halteres at their base and turns them into a gyroscope.2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherlands, Penguin, published 2023, page 166
Forms of haltere
| plural | halteres |
|---|---|
| alternative form | halter |
Origin of haltere
From Ancient Greek ἁλτῆρες (haltêres, “weights held in the hand to give an impetus in leaping”). Note that in the original Greek, there seems to have been no singular for ἁλτῆρες (haltêres), and some authorities maintain that halteres is a plurale tantum, but in English entomological usage, haltere sometimes appears as a back-formation. Sometimes the singular halter is used instead, but this may lead to confusion with other, unrelated meanings of halter.
Words formed from haltere
Questions about haltere
- What does haltere mean?
- Haltere means a small knobbed structure in some two-winged insects, one of a pair that are flapped rapidly and function as accelerometers to maintain stability in flight.
- What part of speech is haltere?
- Haltere is a noun.
- How do you pronounce haltere?
- Haltere is pronounced /ˈhæltɪə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of haltere?
- The plural of haltere is halteres.
Words near haltere in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: haltere (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “haltere.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/haltere. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.