# wasp

> English word · Noun · IPA /wɒsp/ · frequency rank #18,459

## Definitions
1. Any of many types of stinging flying insect resembling a hornet.
2. Any of the members of suborder Apocrita, excepting the ants (family Formicidae) and bees (clade Anthophila).
3. Any of the members of suborder Apocrita, excepting the ants (family Formicidae) and bees (clade Anthophila).
4. A person who behaves in an angry or insolent way, hence waspishly.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *webʰ-
Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂
Proto-Germanic *wapsō
Proto-West Germanic *wapsu
Old English wæps
Middle English wasp
English wasp
Inherited from Middle English wasp, waspe, waps, from Old English wæsp, wæps, from Proto-West Germanic *wapsu, from Proto-Germanic *wapsō, from Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂ (“wasp”), from *webʰ- (“to weave”), referring to the insect's woven nests.
Compare Dutch wesp, German Wespe, Danish hveps. Metathesis of /s/ and /p/ was both a process of some generality within English (compare grasp from Middle English grapsen, and—affecting other plosives—ascian ~ acsian (“to ask”)) and common in the reflexes of *wóps-eh₂ (“wasp”) in particular, as the aforementioned Germanic cognates (and non-Germanic cognates like Latin vespa) evince.

## Easily confused with
- **WS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-ws)
- **way** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-way)
- **wax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-wax)
- **Wes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-wes)
- **wat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-wat)
- **wis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-wis)
- **WSJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-wsj)
- **wop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-wop)
- **WAV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-wav)
- **WSU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-wsu)
- **west** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-west)
- **wish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-wish)
- **ways** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-ways)
- **wave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-wave)
- **wise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-wise)
- **wrap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-wrap)
- **whip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-whip)
- **watt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-watt)
- **weep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-weep)
- **welp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wasp-vs-welp)

## Common misspellings (5)
`awsp`, `waps`, `waspp`, `wassp`, `wwasp`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wasp