From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Ichneumon \Ich*neu"mon\, noun [L., fr. Gr. ?, lit., the tracker; so called because it hunts out the eggs of the crocodile, fr. ? to track or hunt after, fr. 'i'chnos track, footstep.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) Any carnivorous mammal of the genus {Herpestes}, and family {Viverrid[ae]}. Numerous species are found in Asia and Africa. The Egyptian species ({Herpestes ichneumon}), which ranges to Spain and Palestine, is noted for destroying the eggs and young of the crocodile as well as various snakes and lizards, and hence was considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians. The common species of India ({Herpestes griseus}), known as the {mongoose}, has similar habits and is often domesticated. It is noted for killing the cobra.
2. (Zo["o]l.) Any hymenopterous insect of the family {Ichneumonid[ae]}, of which several thousand species are known, belonging to numerous genera.
Note: The female deposits her eggs upon, or in, the bodies of other insects, such as caterpillars, plant lice, etc. The larva lives upon the internal tissues of the insect in which it is parasitic, and finally kills it. Hence, many of the species are beneficial to agriculture by destroying noxious insects.
{Ichneumon fly}. See {Ichneumon}, 2.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: northern African mongoose; in ancient times thought to devour crocodile eggs [syn: {Herpestes ichneumon}]
Define.com is a registered nonprofit corporation dedicated solely to the global public interest and the advancement of humanity. It belongs to all of us who have a desire to promote electronic democracy, science, creativity, imagination, reason, critical thinking, peace, race and gender equality, civil rights, equal access to education, personal liberty, free speech, animal rights, compassionate and nonviolent parenting, social and economic justice, global monetary reform, Secular Humanism, cognitive liberty and a permanent cessation of The War on Drugs.
Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
0