Relating to or characteristic of insects; having the nature or properties of an insect.
From ento- (insect, from Greek entoma, meaning 'cut up' or 'segmented') + -ic (adjectival suffix). The Greek root refers to insects being 'cut into' segments, reflecting early naturalists' observations of insect anatomy.
Ancient Greeks called insects 'entoma' because they noticed insects seemed 'cut into' distinct body parts—little did they know this segmentation is actually why insects are so successful; it lets different parts specialize for different jobs!
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