Yponomeuta

noun

Ypon·​o·​meu·​ta

(ˌ)ēˌpänəˈmyütə

: a genus of black-spotted white moths that is the type of the family Yponomeutidae and that comprises the ermine moths

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, probably irregular from Greek hyponomeutēs miner, from hyponomeuein to undermine, from hyponomos underground passage, from hyponemesthai to eat away beneath, from hypo- + nemesthai to take food, graze, present middle infinitive of nemein to pasture

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