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Wasp
Definitions
- 1 Any of many types of stinging flying insect resembling a hornet.
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of WASP (“white Anglo-Saxon Protestant”). alt-of
"The show went through clothes to suit the lifestyle of a wealthy wasp, an American archetype that is now synonymous with the brand."
- 3 Acronym of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, a member of the supposed ruling class of America. US, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
"Bill got to college only by dint of support from a female relative and heiress (a useful WASP resource) and by scholarships, then a symbol of WASP entitlement."
- 4 Alternative letter-case form of WASP. alt-of
"Purists like to confine Wasps to descendants of the British Isles; less exacting analysts are willing to throw in Scandinavians, Netherlanders and Germans. At the narrowest, Wasps form a select band of well-heeled, well-descended members of the Eastern Establishment; at the widest, they include Okies and Snopeses, "Holy Rollers" and hillbillies."
- 5 social or solitary hymenopterans typically having a slender body with the abdomen attached by a narrow stalk and having a formidable sting wordnet
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- 6 Any of the members of suborder Apocrita, excepting the ants (family Formicidae) and bees (clade Anthophila).
- 7 Initialism of Women Airforce Service Pilots. abbreviation, alt-of, historical, initialism
- 8 a white person of Anglo-Saxon ancestry who belongs to a Protestant denomination wordnet
- 9 Any of the members of suborder Apocrita, excepting the ants (family Formicidae) and bees (clade Anthophila).; Any of the members of the family Vespidae.
- 10 A person who behaves in an angry or insolent way, hence waspishly.
- 1 To move like a wasp; to buzz.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂ Proto-Germanic *wapsō Proto-West Germanic *wapsu Old English wæps Middle English wasp English wasp Inherited from Middle English wasp, waspe, waps, from Old English wæsp, wæps, from Proto-West Germanic *wapsu, from Proto-Germanic *wapsō, from Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂ (“wasp”), from *webʰ- (“to weave”), referring to the insect's woven nests. Compare Dutch wesp, German Wespe, Danish hveps. Metathesis of /s/ and /p/ was both a process of some generality within English (compare grasp from Middle English grapsen, and—affecting other plosives—ascian ~ acsian (“to ask”)) and common in the reflexes of *wóps-eh₂ (“wasp”) in particular, as the aforementioned Germanic cognates (and non-Germanic cognates like Latin vespa) evince.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂ Proto-Germanic *wapsō Proto-West Germanic *wapsu Old English wæps Middle English wasp English wasp Inherited from Middle English wasp, waspe, waps, from Old English wæsp, wæps, from Proto-West Germanic *wapsu, from Proto-Germanic *wapsō, from Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂ (“wasp”), from *webʰ- (“to weave”), referring to the insect's woven nests. Compare Dutch wesp, German Wespe, Danish hveps. Metathesis of /s/ and /p/ was both a process of some generality within English (compare grasp from Middle English grapsen, and—affecting other plosives—ascian ~ acsian (“to ask”)) and common in the reflexes of *wóps-eh₂ (“wasp”) in particular, as the aforementioned Germanic cognates (and non-Germanic cognates like Latin vespa) evince.
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