Tenebrionid
/tɪˈnɛbriənɪd/noun
A beetle of the family Tenebrionidae, the darkling beetles.
Did you know?The family name Tenebrionidae was coined from Latin *tenebriones*, a word associated with darkness or dark places, giving these beetles a name that literally marks them as creatures of the gloom.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*temH- / *temes-
“A proposed ancestral root associated with darkness or blackness.”
Latin
Latin
tenebrae
“Darkness, gloom, shadows.”
Latin
Latin
tenebriones
“A dark creature or darkling beetle; a name formed from the idea of darkness.”
19th Century
English
Tenebrionidae
“The zoological family name for darkling beetles.”
Modern English
English
tenebrionid
“Any beetle belonging to the darkling beetle family Tenebrionidae.”
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