weevil: [15] Old English had a word wifel ‘beetle’, but this appears to have died out, and weevil was probably borrowed from Middle Low German wevel. Both words had the same ultimate origin, however: prehistoric Germanic *webilaz. It is not clear whether this was derived from the base *web-, *wab- ‘weave’ (source of English weave ‘make cloth’ and web), in which case the weevil would be the ‘weaving’ creature; or from the base *web- ‘move quickly’ (source of English weave ‘move in a zigzag way’, whip, etc), in which case it would be the ‘quick mover’.
weevil (n.)
Old English wifel "small beetle," from Proto-Germanic *webilaz (cognates: Old Saxon wibil, Old High German wibil, German Wiebel "beetle, chafer," Old Norse tordyfill "dung beetle"), cognate with Lithuanian vabalas "beetle," from PIE root *webh- "to weave," also "to move quickly" (see weave (v.)). The sense gradually narrowed by 15c. to a particular kind of beetle that, in larval or adult stages, bores into plants, often destroying them.
实用例句
1. The weevil is a shiny, cylindrical beetle.
象甲科害虫是一种发光的圆柱形甲虫.
来自辞典例句
2. If you had the pluck of a weevil in a biscuit , you would catch them still.'
你们只要有干面包里的虫子那样的胆量, 就一定能抓住他们. ”
来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
3. Farm demonstration work in the South helped to fight the cotton boll weevil.
南部农场示范工作大大帮助了对棉花象鼻虫的防治.
来自辞典例句
4. The rice weevil is a good example of the high reproducibility of some grain insect species.
米象是一些谷物昆虫中繁殖能力强的典型.
来自辞典例句
5. Pest infestation also easily occurs, mainly rice weevil and corn weevil, etc.
