antlion
/ˈænt.laɪ.ən/noun
antlion is spelled A-N-T-L-I-O-N: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 51 million words in written English, the 222,788th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, antlion means “Any of various species of insects, many of them nocturnal, in the family Myrmeleontidae. The adults superficially resemble the unrelated damselflies.…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of antlion is antlions.
How many letters and syllables are in antlion?
| Letters | 7: A-N-T-L-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 51 million words; the 222,788th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is antlion?
Antlion appears about once in every 51 million words in written English, the 222,788th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce antlion?
- /ˈænt.laɪ.ən/
- /ˈæːnt.laɪ.ən/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-antlion.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of antlion
- antlions plural
- ant lion
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does antlion mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of various species of insects, many of them nocturnal, in the family Myrmeleontidae. The adults superficially resemble the unrelated damselflies. The larvae bury themselves in sand below a cone-shaped pit in which they trap insects such as ants.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Antlion in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense nocturnal insects:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fourmi-lion, fourmilion |
| German | Ameisenlöwe |
| Portuguese | mirmeleão, formiga-leão |
| Spanish | mirmelóntido, hormiga león |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does antlion come from?
From ant + lion. Compare translingual Myrmeleon.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).