Wingless: meaning, definitions and examples
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wingless
[ ˈwɪŋləs ]
describing flightless
Wingless refers to the state of lacking wings or being unable to fly. This can apply to certain animals, particularly insects, that have evolved to live without wings due to their environment or behavioral adaptations.
Synonyms
flightless, unwinged, wing-deprived.
Examples of usage
- The wingless insect crawled along the ground.
- Some species of birds are wingless due to their habitat.
- The evolution of wingless creatures is fascinating in terms of adaptation.
- Wingless varieties of certain organisms thrive in isolated ecosystems.
Etymology
The word 'wingless' is derived from the Old English word 'winge', meaning 'wing', combined with the suffix '-less', which indicates 'without' or 'lacking'. The Old English 'winge' is akin to the Proto-Germanic '*wenzō', which traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*wegh-', meaning 'to be strong' or 'to move'. Over time, the concept of being wingless has been characterized in various biological contexts, particularly in the study of evolution and adaptation in species that have either lost their wings or never developed them due to specific environmental factors. This term is particularly relevant in entomology, where numerous insects have adaptive traits that favor a wingless existence in certain ecological niches.