Cercus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A dual appendage located at the hind end of certain insects
2. A bilateral appendage positioned at the rear of certain insects, which can assist in movement, balance, or mating activities
3. A pair of small limb-like structures found at the back of specific insects helping in various functions

Etymology: The Greek "kérkos" meant simply "tail," and that plain word lies behind the technical term "cercus," which zoologists use for the paired appendages at the rear end of many insects. The Greek word was a common one in classical writing for an animal's tail, and it passed into scientific Latin as "cercus," a New Latin coinage used to name these body parts in the study of insect anatomy. The term is therefore a modern scientific borrowing rather than an ancient one: ancient writers had the Greek word for tail, but the specific anatomical sense belongs to the era of systematic naming in biology. The English noun preserves that Latinized form, so a cerci-bearing insect such as a cricket or cockroach carries a Greek word for "tail" in its anatomy.