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LATIN · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

formica.

ant;

7 characters3 syllables approx.Latina language

Meaning & usage

noun[fɔrˈmiː.ka]Classical-Latin[forˈmiː.ka]
  1. ant

    declension-1
Where this word comes from

Traditionally, from a form with earlier initial /m/, such as Proto-Italic *mormīkā, considered to derive from Proto-Indo-European *morwi(s) (“ant”), a term with many deviating forms – probably taboo distortions – in various Indo-European languages. The irregular sound change can be explained by dissimilation of /m…m/ to /f…m/. Cognates would include Sanskrit वम्र (vamra), Ancient Greek μύρμηξ (múrmēx), Old Church Slavonic мравии (mravii), Polish mrówka, Old Irish moirb, Welsh myrion, Old Norse maurr, English mire. Compare especially Sanskrit वल्मीक (valmī́ka, “anthill”) and Iron Ossetian мӕлдзыг (mælʒyg, “ant”), which could point to Proto-Indo-European *morm-iH-ko-.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.