Gryllus
- noun
- /ˈɡrɪləs/
- Specialized
- Farmers often notice the presence of Gryllus crickets when they hear their distinctive sounds.
Examples
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The Gryllus species can be heard chirping in the fields during the summer nights.
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Many children enjoy catching Gryllus crickets in meadows as part of their outdoor play.
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Circe herself was the subject of a lost play of this kind by Aeschylus, and she and Odysseus even appear rather gryllus-like in a certain style of vase painting.
Academic text (1997)
Synonyms
A small jumping insect whose male makes a chirping sound by rubbing its wings together
Compounds
- Specialized
A small frog from the eastern United States that lives by ponds and makes a high chirping call
Surface Forms
Etymology
Gryllus comes from an old Greek word gryllos, which means 'cricket'. Scientists used it as the scientific name for a group of crickets, so when you see Gryllus you can remember the small chirping 'cricket'.