termite

noun

ter·​mite ˈtər-ˌmīt 

: any of numerous pale-colored soft-bodied social insects (order Isoptera) that live in colonies consisting usually of winged sexual forms, wingless sterile workers, and soldiers, feed on wood, and include some which are very destructive to wooden structures and trees

called also white ant

Examples of termite in a Sentence

The house has a lot of termite damage.

Recent Examples on the Web

Sloth bears are a type of bear native to India, Sri Lanka and Nepal that eat termites and ants, according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. —Krystal Nurse, USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2025

For example, some communities of chimpanzees purposely eat termites and other insects, with some individuals occasionally hunting vertebrates. —Scott Travers, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025

Like worrisome termites, cockroaches have a job to do, breaking down organic matter in the natural world. —Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 31 Oct. 2024

This is a common protection against termites and also works for fires. —Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin termit-, termes, alteration (probably by conformation to terere "to rub, grind, wear down") of Latin tarmit-, tarmes "woodworm," of uncertain origin

Note: Early instances of termites in English may represent the Latin word, from which termite is a later back-formation. Latin tarmes is apparently attested in only a single line of Plautus' Mostellaria, though it was familiar to Late Latin authors. The Roman lexicographer Sextus Pompeius Festus considered it a kind of flesh-eating maggot ("genus vermiculi carnem exedens"). The initial syllable suggests a relationship to terere "to rub, grind, wear down" (see trite), though -ar- must be of secondary origin, and the nature of the suffix is unclear.

First Known Use

1781, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing termite

• Formosan termite

Kids Definition

termite

noun

ter·​mite ˈtər-ˌmīt 

: any of a group of pale-colored soft-bodied social insects that feed on wood, live in colonies consisting of winged sexual forms, wingless sterile workers, and often soldiers, and that include some very destructive to wooden structures and trees

called also white ant