| The [[word]] ''insect'' dates back to 1600, from the [[Latin]] word ''insectum'' meaning "with a notched or divided [[body]]," [[literally]] "cut into," from neuter plural of ''insectare'' "to cut into, to cut up," from ''in''- "into" + ''secare'' "to cut"; from the [[fact]] that insects are "cut into" three sections. The word created by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Elder Pliny the Elder]'s loan-[[translation]] of the [[Greek]] word [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BC%94%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%82 ἔντομος] or "insect" (as in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomology entomology]), which was Aristotle's term for this [[class]] of life, also in reference to their "notched" bodies, first documented in [[English]] in 1601 in Holland's translation of Pliny. Translations of Aristotle's term also form the usual word for "insect" in Welsh (''trychfil'', from ''trychu'' "cut" + ''mil'' "animal"), Serbo-Croatian (''zareznik'', from ''rezati'' "cut"), Russian (насекомое ''nasekomoe'', from ''sekat'' "cut"), etc. | | The [[word]] ''insect'' dates back to 1600, from the [[Latin]] word ''insectum'' meaning "with a notched or divided [[body]]," [[literally]] "cut into," from neuter plural of ''insectare'' "to cut into, to cut up," from ''in''- "into" + ''secare'' "to cut"; from the [[fact]] that insects are "cut into" three sections. The word created by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Elder Pliny the Elder]'s loan-[[translation]] of the [[Greek]] word [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BC%94%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%82 ἔντομος] or "insect" (as in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomology entomology]), which was Aristotle's term for this [[class]] of life, also in reference to their "notched" bodies, first documented in [[English]] in 1601 in Holland's translation of Pliny. Translations of Aristotle's term also form the usual word for "insect" in Welsh (''trychfil'', from ''trychu'' "cut" + ''mil'' "animal"), Serbo-Croatian (''zareznik'', from ''rezati'' "cut"), Russian (насекомое ''nasekomoe'', from ''sekat'' "cut"), etc. |
| *1a : any of numerous small [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invertebrate invertebrate] animals (as spiders or centipedes) that are more or less obviously segmented —not used [[technically]] | | *1a : any of numerous small [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invertebrate invertebrate] animals (as spiders or centipedes) that are more or less obviously segmented —not used [[technically]] |