anopheles

[uh-nof-uh-leez] /əˈnɒf əˌliz/
noun, plural anopheles.
1.
any mosquito of the genus Anopheles, certain species of which are vectors of the parasite causing malaria in humans, distinguished from other mosquitoes by the absence of breathing tubes in the larvae and by the head-downward stance of the adult while resting or feeding.
Compare culex.
Origin
1895-1900; < Neo-Latin < Greek anōphelḗs useless, hurtful, harmful, equivalent to an- an-1 + -ōpheles- variant stem of óphelos profit; earlier (a)n- (with vowel lengthening) + opheles-, written in Mycenaean Greek as nopere
Related forms
anopheline
[uh-nof-uh-lahyn, -lin] /əˈnɒf əˌlaɪn, -lɪn/ (Show IPA),
adjective, noun
Examples from the web for anopheles
  • anopheles are present here, but fortunately the parasite is not.
British Dictionary definitions for anopheles

anopheles

/əˈnɒfɪˌliːz/
noun (pl) -les
1.
any of various mosquitoes constituting the genus Anopheles, some species of which transmit the malaria parasite to man
Word Origin
C19: via New Latin from Greek anōphelēs useless, from an- + ōphelein to help, from ophelos help
Word Origin and History for anopheles

Anopheles

n.

genus of mosquitoes, Modern Latin, coined 1818 by German entomologist Johann Wilhelm Meigen (1764-1845) from Greek anopheles "useless, hurtful, harmful," from an-, privative prefix, (see an- (1)) + ophelos "use, help, advantage" (see Ophelia). So called because it conveys malaria.

anopheles in Medicine

Anopheles A·noph·e·les (ə-nŏf'ə-lēz')
n.
A genus of mosquitoes containing over 90 species, many of which are vectors of malaria.


a·noph·e·line (-līn')