noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Any of various large insects of the order Mantodea that catch insects or other small animals with their powerful forelegs. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   predacious long-bodied large-eyed insect of warm regions; rests with forelimbs raised as in prayer wordnet
3. 3
   A green colour, like that of many mantises. uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

insectmantidpraying mantisrear-horserearhorse

Example

More examples

"I respect the praying mantis as a living creature!"

Etymology

From New Latin mantis, from Ancient Greek μάντις (mántis, “soothsayer”). Distant doublet of mind via Proto-Indo-European *méntis.

Related phrases

Chinese mantisSkinner's ground mantisflower mantismantis crabmantis shrimppraying mantissea mantis

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.