TERMITE

[ter.mite] n [NL Termit-, Termes, genus of termites, fr. LL, a worm that eats wood, alter. of L tarmit-, tarmes; akin to Gk tetrainein to bore--more at throw] (1781): any of numerous pale-colored soft-bodied social insects (order Isoptera) that live in colonies consisting usu. 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