ichneumon-
combining stem of prec. (in sense 2), as in ichneumonid (ɪkˈnjuːmənɪd) = ichneumonidan n. ichneumonidan (ɪknjuːˈmɒnɪdən) a., pertaining to the family Ichneumonidæ of hymenopterous insects, typified by the ichneumon-flies; n. an insect of this family. ichneumonideous (ɪknjuːməˈnɪdɪəs), ichneumonidian (-ˈɪdɪən) adjs. = prec. adj. ichneumoniform (-ˈmɒnɪfɔːm) a., having the form or characters of an ichneumon-fly (Mayne Expos. Lex. 1855). ichneumonize (ɪkˈnjuːmənaɪz) v. trans., to infest, as the ichneumon-fly, the bodies of other insects. ichˈneumonoid a. and n. = ichneumonidan a. and n. ichneumoˈnology, the natural history of ichneumon-flies (Cent. Dict.).
| 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entom. IV. xliv. 218 Ichneumonidan devourers are kept in check by other Ichneumonidan devourers. 1843 Ibid. (ed. 6) I. ix. 226 Such is the activity and address of the Ichneumonidans. 1842 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. III. i. 37, I offered a conjecture, that those larvæ which entered the ground had been ‘ichneumonized’, whilst those which remained encased and in the ears would be found uninjured. 1852 T. Thompson Ann. Influenza 389 The Cecidomyia of wheat would produce a famine but for the ichneumonidian parasites. 1865 Reader No. 119. 406/1 A dipterous or ichneumonideous insect. |