Vespa
/ˈvɛspə/noun
A genus of large stinging wasps, including the hornet.
Did you know?Latin *vespa* meant “wasp,” and the word’s sting survives in several Romance-language descendants, while English borrowed it indirectly through scientific naming.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*wes-
“to blow or to sting? (uncertain root often linked in older scholarship, but not securely established for this word)”
Latin
Latin
vespa
“wasp”
Old French
Old French
guepe
“wasp”
Modern English
English
vespa
“scientific genus name for wasps and hornets”