weevil Meaning & Definition
What Does Weevil Mean?
Weevil is used as a noun meaning any of a superfamily (Curculionoidea) of beetles which have the head prolonged into a more or less distinct snout and which include many that are destructive especially as larvae to nuts, fruit, and grain or to living plants. It is also used to mean any of a family (Curculionidae) having a well-developed snout curved downward with the jaws at the tip and clubbed usually elbowed antennae.
Word Facts for Weevil
| Part of speech | noun |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈwē-vəl/ |
| Syllables | 2 |
| Plural | weevils |
Weevil Definition (Noun)
- any of a superfamily (Curculionoidea) of beetles which have the head prolonged into a more or less distinct snout and which include many that are destructive especially as larvae to nuts, fruit, and grain or to living plants
- any of a family (Curculionidae) having a well-developed snout curved downward with the jaws at the tip and clubbed usually elbowed antennae
Synonyms of Weevil
The source does not list synonyms for this entry.
Weevil synonyms and antonyms →Antonyms of Weevil
No antonyms or near antonyms are listed by the available sources for this entry.
Weevil in a Sentence
No example sentences are available for this entry.
Word Forms & Grammar
wee·vily adjective
weevil
weevilly
weevils
weevily
weevil (plural weevils)
Words That Rhyme With Weevil
Origin of Weevil
Origin 1: Middle English wevel, from Old English wifel; akin to Old High German wibil beetle, Old English wefan to weave
Origin 2: From Middle English wevel, from Old English wifel (“beetle”), from Proto-West Germanic *wibil, from Proto-Germanic *wibilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *webʰel-, from *(h₁)webʰ- (“to wave, to weave”), said to be from the woven appearance of a weevil’s larval case,[1] + *-el-, *-l̥- (diminutive or attributive suffix); see also wave and weave.
Origin 3: Compare Old Saxon *wivil (“beetle”); Middle Low German wevel; Old High German wibil, wipil (modern German Wiebel (“beetle; chafer”)); Lithuanian vãbalas (“beetle; weevil”); Old Norse vifill, as in tordyfill (“dung beetle, scarab”) (whence Dutch tortwevel; Icelandic tordýfill, Norwegian tordivel, Old English tordwifel, Swedish tordyvel); dialectal Russian ве́блица (véblica, “intestinal worm”).
First Known Use
before 12th century
How to Pronounce Weevil
The standard pronunciation of weevil is /ˈwē-vəl/, spoken in 2 syllables, with the main stress on the first syllable (wē).