Avispa
/əˈvɪspə/noun
A wasp, especially in Caribbean English.
Did you know?Avispa is a Caribbean English borrowing from Spanish, whose unusual initial vowel developed from the older Latin form vespa—the same root behind scientific wasp names.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*wópsā
“A wasp; the reconstructed ancestral form behind several European words for the insect.”
Proto-Italic
Proto-Italic
*wespā
“Wasp; an early Italic descendant of the Indo-European term.”
Classical Latin
Latin
vespa
“Wasp.”
Medieval Spanish
Spanish
avispa
“Wasp; the Spanish form developed with an added initial vowel and altered consonant pattern from Latin vespa.”
Modern English
English
avispa
“A regional English borrowing, chiefly used in the Caribbean, meaning wasp.”