antenna
(ænˈtɛnə)
Pl. -æ, rarely -as.
[a. L. antenna, in ancient use ‘a sail-yard’; usually referred to Gr. ἀνατείν-ειν to stretch out or forth. The modern use seems to begin with the L. transl. of Aristotle Περὶ ζ{wisubacu}ων ἱστορίας, by Theodorus Gaza (died 1478) in which the Gr. κεραῖαι ‘horns’ of insects (cornua, cornicula Pliny) is rendered antennæ, which thence passed into subsequent entomological writers (many of whom cite Aristotle for it). As the projecting ‘horns’ or ends of sail-yards, in L. cornua antennārum, were also called κεραῖαι, antennæ was aptly employed to render the same word when meaning the horns of insects, which indeed often suggest the cornua of the long ascending antennæ or yards of lateen sails. Common in Lat. entomol. works during 16–17th c., but not found in the dict. of any mod. lang. bef. 1700.]
1. A sensory organ, occurring in pairs on the heads of insects and crustacea; popularly called horns or feelers.
| [a 1478 T. Gaza Aristotle, Hist. Anim. (1492) 18 b, Ad hæc antennæ nonnullis ante oculos prætenduntur, ut papilioni et fulloni [Gr. ἔτι κεραίας πρὸ τῶν ὀµµάτων ἔνια]. a 1600 U. Aldrovandus De animalibus insect. (1602) Prol. 7 Quædam cornicula gerunt in capite quæ antennas Aristoteles vocat. Ibid. ii. 236 Aristoteles antennas iis ante oculos prætendi scripsit, idque ex eo repetiit Plinius, vocans istiusmodi antennas ignava cornicula. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. xviii. 153 Insects that have antennæ, or long hornes to feele out their way, as Butter-flies and Locusts. [1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying Ins. i. iii. 4 The horns are called by Aristotle, Antennæ, because they hold them forth before them.] 1698 Allen Death-Watch in Phil. Trans. XX. 377 The Antennæ proceeded from under the Eyes. 1713 Derham Phys. Theol. (Jod.) Insects clean their eyes with their forelegs, as well as antennæ. 1826 Kirby & Spence Entomol. (1828) II. xxiii. 303 This part looks like a jointed antenna. 1834 Good Bk. Nat. II. 21 The antennas of the butterflies. 1847 Carpenter Zool. §788 The spiny Lobster..is distinguished by the very large size of its lateral antennæ. 1879 Lubbock Sci. Lect. iii. 87 There are in the antennæ of ants certain curious organs which may perhaps be of an auditory character. 1880 Huxley Cray-Fish 24 The Antennæ are organs of touch. |
2. fig. ‘Feelers.’
| 1855 Holmes Poems 214 Go to yon tower, where busy science plies Her vast antennæ, feeling thro' the skies. 1918 E. Pound Pavannes & Divisions 43 My soul's antennæ are prey to such perturbations. 1959 Listener 17 Dec. 1082/1 This is where an author with sound learning, a seeing eye, and sensitive ‘antennae’ can be of great assistance. |
3. Bot. (by extension). A pair of long slender irritable processes in the male flower of certain orchids, by the excitement of which the pollinium is jerked out of the flower.
| 1862 Darwin Orchids 225 When the right-hand antenna..is touched, the pollinium is instantly ejected. 1874 Lubbock Flowers & Insects (1882) 175 Insects alight as usual on the lip of the flower, and it will be seen that in front of it are two long processes called antennæ. |
4. A dorsal sense-organ in rotifers.
| 1886 A. G. Bourne in Encycl. Brit. XXI. 5/2 A structure found in many Rotifers, and variously known as the ‘calcar’, ‘siphon’, ‘tentaculum’, or ‘antenna’. |
5. a. Radio. An aerial wire or other device for radiating or receiving radio waves, an aerial: see aerial a. 6 b.
| 1902 J. A. Fleming in Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 230/2 The great improvement introduced by Marconi was the employment of this vertical air-wire, aerial, antenna, or elevated conductor. 1904 Physical Rev. Sept. 197 In 1898 he [sc. Marconi] saw the importance of the direct grounding of the receiving antenna. 1915 A. E. Seelig tr. Zenneck's Wireless Telegr. 150 Every radio station has an open oscillator, the ‘antenna’, that part of the antenna which is suspended in the air being called the ‘aerial’. 1922 Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics II. 1044/1 Electric waves..received on the antennae of wireless stations. 1960 Daily Tel. 22 Feb. 14 The radar antenna shown above..has an 84-ft. ‘dish’. 1961 Word Study Apr. 3/1 The biological scientist will insist that the creatures have antennae; an electronics technician writes about the antennas of a microwave installation. 1962 Observer 10 June 20/1 A huge 340-ton horn antenna at Andover, Maine, will beam signals at the satellite. |
b. attrib. and Comb.
| 1906 J. A. Fleming Princ. Electr. Wave Telegr. ix. 556 This is dissipated..as heat in the antenna and antenna circuit. 1916 ― Radiotelegr. (ed. 3) 155 A single mast..having two sprits attached to it by means of which an antenna wire is upheld in the form of a vertical rectangle. 1922 Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics II. 1038/1 The condenser C is intended to represent the antenna capacity, and R..the same power as is actually occasioned by the antenna resistance and radiation. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 39/1 Antenna array, a group of two or more antennae spacially arranged to have particular directional radiating and/or receiving properties. Ibid. 39/2 Antenna system, the whole of the equipment of a radio transmitter or receiver associated with the antenna-to-earth circuit. 1946 Electronic Engin. XVIII. 20 An automatic V.H.F. direction finder using a fixed..antenna system. 1963 Ann. Reg. 1962 447 The U.S.S.R. built the highest tower in Europe..a height of 1,383 feet with its antenna mast. |
6. A ‘feeler’ attached to a naval mine. Also attrib.
| 1933 Jane's Fighting Ships 1933 461/1 Body of mine, spherical, 3 feet diameter. Form of detonation uncertain; said to consist of antennae fitted with..magnetic pistol... Antennae said to consist of thin conducting wires and magnetic pistols. 1947 10 Eventful Years IV. 632 Antenna mine, a large naval mine..exploding on contact with a metal object. |