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lo·cust

(lōkəst)

1. Any of various short-horned grasshoppers that sometimes migrate in immense swarms, devouring vegetation and crops.

2. A cicada, especially a periodical cicada.

a. Any of several trees of the pea family bearing long pods, especially the black locust, honey locust, and carob.

b. The wood of any of these trees.

[Middle English, from Old French locuste, from Latin locusta. Sense 3a, probably from the resemblance of a carob pod to a grasshopper and the use of both as subsistence food in drier regions of the Near East.]

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locust

black locust

Robinia pseudoacacia

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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