Standard Lemma guide

elytron

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈɛlɪtɹɒn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A sheath or outer covering, especially around the spinal cord or over the hindwings of certain insects.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: wingcase

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

either of the horny front wings in beetles and some other insects which cover and protect the functional hind wings

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: wing case

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: wing

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek εἰλύω (eilúō) Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-trom Proto-Hellenic *-tron Ancient Greek -τρον (-tron) Ancient Greek ἔλυτρον (élutron)lbor. English elytron Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἔλυτρον (élutron, “sheath”).

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: èlitre — outer covering of insect
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鞘翅 (qiàochì) — outer covering of insect
  • Czech: krovka — outer covering of insect
  • Finnish: peitesiipi — outer covering of insect
  • French: élytre — outer covering of insect
  • German: Flügeldecke — outer covering of insect
  • German: Elytron — outer covering of insect
  • Greek: έλυτρο (élytro) — outer covering of insect
  • Hungarian: szárnyfedő — outer covering of insect
  • Italian: elitra — outer covering of insect
  • Japanese: 翅鞘 (shishō) — outer covering of insect
  • Latin: elytrum — outer covering of insect
  • Polish: pokrywy — outer covering of insect
  • Polish: okrywy — outer covering of insect
  • Polish: elytry — outer covering of insect
  • Romanian: elitră — outer covering of insect
  • Russian: надкры́лье (nadkrýlʹje) — outer covering of insect
  • Russian: надкры́лья (nadkrýlʹja) — outer covering of insect
  • Spanish: élitro — outer covering of insect
  • Ukrainian: надкрило́ (nadkryló) — outer covering of insect
  • Ukrainian: надкри́лля (nadkrýllja) — outer covering of insect
  • Ukrainian: елі́тра (elítra) — outer covering of insect