Pismire
/ˈpɪs.maɪər/noun
An ant, especially a small or reddish ant.
Did you know?The second half, “mire,” preserves an obsolete English word for “ant,” while modern “mire” meaning swamp comes from an entirely different root.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*morwi-
“A reconstructed word for “ant,” ancestral to several ancient ant names.”
Old English
Old English
mȳre
“Ant; this obsolete noun later survived inside “pismire.””
Middle English
Middle English
pissemyre
“Literally “piss-ant,” formed from “pisse” and “myre,” meaning ant.”
16th Century
English
pismire
“A regularized or contracted form of “pissemyre,” referring to an ant.”
Modern English
English
pismire
“An ant, now chiefly dialectal, literary, or archaic.”
Explore more surprising origins