termite

/ˈtɜː(ɹ).maɪt/

termite noun: a white-bodied, wood-consuming insect of the infraorder Isoptera, in the order Blattodea.

Image: Photo by Scott Bauer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

termite (plural termites)

A white-bodied, wood-consuming insect of the infraorder Isoptera, in the order Blattodea.
- Linnæus describes this insect under the Latin name of Termes; and citizen Cuvier speaks of it under that of Termites. The vulgar call it by that of white ant, or fourmi vaguevague. The termites divide themselves into societies: each society builds itself a next, and each nest belongs to an...1802, Francis William Blagdon, Modern Discoveries; or, a Collection of facts and observations, volume IV, page 162
Synonyms:

termes, white ant, wood ant
A contemptible person.
- This two faced termite has the nerve to talk.2019, Justin Blackburn, The Bisexual Christian Suburban Failure Enlightening Bipolar Blues, page 31

Verb

termite (third-person singular simple present termites, present participle termiting, simple past and past participle termited)

(intransitive) Of a chimpanzee: to catch termites by inserting a stick or vine into their nest and waiting for them to climb up it.

termite meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

termite in Hindi

insect: दीमक dīmak

termite in Tamil

insect: கறையான் kaṟaiyāṉ

termite in Marathi

termite; white ant: उधई udhaī
termite: वाळवी vāḷavī

termite in Urdu

دیمک

More languagesFewer languages

termite in Bengali: উইপোকা, ঘুণ
termite in Telugu: చెద ceda
termite in Malayalam: ചിതൽ cital
termite in Kannada: ಗೆದ್ದಲು geddalu
termite in Punjabi: ਸਓਂਕ saoṅka
termite in Gujarati: ઊધઈ ūdhaī
termite in Assamese: উঁই ũi
termite in Pashto: وينه waynë́
termite in Tagalog: anay, bukbok
termite in Arabic: أَرَضَة ʔaraḍa
termite in Malay: anai-anai, kelekatu
termite in Indonesian: rayap, anai-anai, semut putih
termite in Persian: موریانه
termite in Thai: ปลวก bplùuak
termite in Vietnamese: mối

Examples of termite in a sentence

The wood porch was a honeycomb of termite tunnels before we replaced it.
It is often difficult to determine the time required for a queen to become physogastric in termite colonies.
Gilchrist has a head that would have passed unnoticed Back o′Bourke where they played cricket using termite mounds as stumps.

All 10 example sentences with termite

Synonyms of termite

Forms of termite

Noun
plural	termites
Verb
third-person singular present	termites
present participle	termiting
past participle	termited
past	termited

Plural of termite: termites

Origin of termite

Inferred singular of termites, the plural form borrowed from Latin termites, the plural of Latin termes (“woodworm”), which was used for termites by Linnaeus.

Words formed from termite

Phrases with termite

Words that rhyme with termite

thermite

Questions about termite

What does termite mean?: Termite means a white-bodied, wood-consuming insect of the infraorder Isoptera, in the order Blattodea.
What is termite in Hindi?: Termite in Hindi is दीमक (dīmak). See Termite meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is termite?: Termite can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce termite?: Termite is pronounced /ˈtɜː(ɹ).maɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of termite?: The plural of termite is termites.

Words near termite in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: termite (page history and authors); उधई (Marathi) (page history and authors); termite (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); termite (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ઊધઈ (Gujarati) (page history and authors); وينه (Pashto) (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-termite.wav.

Cite this entry: “termite.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/termite. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.