emmet
/ˈɛmɪt/ noun, proper noun
Forms emmets Emmett
- noun (archaic or dialectal) An ant.
- noun (Cornwall, derogatory) A tourist.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A male given name transferred from the surname.
- proper noun A ghost town in Queensland, Australia.
- proper noun A city in Nevada and Hempstead, Arkansas.
- proper noun A village in Holt County, Nebraska.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in McLean County, North Dakota.
- proper noun A ghost town in Union County, South Dakota.
- proper noun A town in Dodge County, Wisconsin.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English ampte, amte, amete, amote, ante, emete, emot, emotte, empt, empte, from Old English ǣmete, ǣmette, ǣmytte, ǣmætte (“ant”), from Proto-West Germanic *āmaitijā (“ant”), of uncertain and debated origin (q.v.), but probably from Proto-Germanic *ē- (“off, away”) + *maitaną (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂y- (“to cut”). Doublet of ant.
Cognate with Yola emotee, emothee (“ant”), West Frisian eamel, eamelder, eameler (“ant”), Alemannic German Ameisse (“ant”), Bavarian Åmasn, Åmeisn (“ant”), Cimbrian amasa (“ant”), Dutch emt (“ant”), German Ameise, Emse (“ant”), Low German Emk (“ant”), Vilamovian ömys (“ant”), Yiddish אַמייזע (ameyze, “ant”).
From a Middle English diminutive of the female given name Emma.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [OE. emete, amete, AS. æmete. See Ant.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “emmet”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details