locust

locust · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*lek-der.?
2. Latinlocusta
3. Anglo-Normanlocuste
4. Middle Englishlocuste
5. English todaylocust

Inherited from Middle English locuste, locust, from Anglo-Norman locuste, Middle French locuste, and their source, Latin locusta (“locust, crustacean, lobster”). Doublet of langouste. Noun sense 3 (“kind of tree”), originally referring to the carob (compare locust bean), is based on the resemblance of the trees' beanlike seed pods to the insect and is likely a semantic loan from Ancient Greek ἀκρίς (akrís). Noun sense 5 (“mainlander”) is a semantic loan from Cantonese 蝗蟲 /蝗虫 (wong4 cung4), also meaning "locust".

Locust · proper noun²

Unknown.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 14th c. Any of the grasshoppers, often polyphenic and usually swarming, in the family Acrididae that are very destructive to crops and other vegetation, especially migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria).
• from 16th c. A fruit or pod of a carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua).
• from 17th c. Any of various often leguminous trees and shrubs, especially of the genera Robinia and Gleditsia; locust tree.
• from 18th c. A cicada.