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APHID
Definition of APHID
noun
A sap-sucking insect pest of the superfamily Aphidoidea; an aphidian.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From New Latin aphis (plural aphides), coined by Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1758. His inspiration for the name remains unclear; OED suggests it might stem from a misreading of Ancient Greek κορις (koris, “bug”) (see diagram), in which case the nominative -ις (-is) suffix was reanalyzed as -ις, -ιδος (-is, -idos); while AHD suggests a connection to Ancient Greek ἀφειδής (apheidḗs, “unsparing, lavishly borrowed”) in reference to the insects' voracity or rapid rate of production, from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + φείδομαι (pheídomai, “to spare, be thrifty, be merciful”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”). Doublet of aphis.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,595)
How it is built
Same root, APHID · 5 relatives in the game
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
APHID in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 61 boards so far. 173 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 25, 14 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 163, 30 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
First ever to find it
on Day 25, 14 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
APHID starts with A and ends with D. Sorted, its letters read ADHIP - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start APHID
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 25
Could you have found APHID?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 25 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER