wasp
wasp
UK[wɒsp]US[wɑːsp]
n
A black and yellow flying insect that can sting, often living in nests and sometimes living in large groups.
n
(WASP) An American from a white, Protestant family whose ancestors came from northern Europe, often considered to be a member of the most powerful social class.
Etymology
The word 'wasp' descends directly from the Old English 'wæps' or 'wæsp', which itself evolved from the Proto-Germanic 'wabis-'. This Germanic root is traced further back to the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root 'wobhseh₂-', meaning 'weaver', a reference to the insect's nest-building behavior. The semantic journey is a direct one, where the descriptive PIE term for a weaving insect was inherited and phonetically simplified through Germanic languages into Old English and finally Modern English. The modern meaning retains the core ancient concept, specifically identifying the stinging, nest-building insect, while the acronymic sense 'WASP' is a 20th-century American socio-cultural development.
Analysis
The word 'wasp' is a simplex word of Old English origin. It cannot be meaningfully segmented into smaller morphemes within its current English spelling.
Examples
A wasp stung me on the arm while I was gardening.
The children watched carefully as the wasp flew near their picnic table.
The historical narrative often centered on the perspective of the WASP establishment.