formiga

From Latin formīca.

formiga f (plural formigues)

1. ant

Inherited from Latin formīca (compare Occitan formiga, French fourmi, Spanish hormiga), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *morwi-.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [furˈmi.ɣə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [foɾˈmi.ɣa]

• Audio (Valencia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɡa

formiga f (plural formigues)

1. ant

• “formiga”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “formiga”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “formiga” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “formiga” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• forniga, furmía, furmiga

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese formiga, from Latin formīca, from Proto-Italic *mormīkā, from Proto-Indo-European *morwi-. Compare Portuguese formiga and Spanish hormiga,

formiga f (plural formigas)

1. ant
   • 1958, Xosé Luis Méndez Ferrín, Percival e outras historias:

     Unha formiguiña senlleira e angueirosa, bulindo por antre a herbaxe ollóu, sen facer bruído ningún, como xacía Rasgulkje impotente

     A solitary and hard-working little ant, cruising by the grasses, saw, making no sound, how Rasgulkje laid helpless

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “formiga”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “formiga”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “formiga”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Inherited from Latin formīca.

formiga f (plural formigas)

1. ant

• “formiga”, in Diccionario Castellano-Leonés / Leonés-Castellano [Spanish-Leonese / Leonese-Spanish Dictionary] (in Spanish), La Asociación L'Alderique, 2012–2025
• “formiga”, in Pallabreiru Llïonés [Leonese Dictionary] (in Spanish), 2025

• fourmigo, fourmiguo (Mistralian)
• forniga (Provençal)
• hormiga, hromiga, ahromiga (Gascony)

From Old Occitan [Term?], from Latin formīca.

• IPA^(key): [furˈmiɣo]

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

formiga f (plural formigas)

1. ant

Inherited from Latin formīca, from Proto-Italic *mormīkā, from Proto-Indo-European *morwi-.

• IPA^(key): /foɾˈmiɡa/
• Rhymes: -iɡa
• Hyphenation: for‧mi‧ga

formiga f (plural formigas)

1. ant

• Fala: furniga, fulmiga, furmiga
• Galician: formiga
• Portuguese: formiga (see there for further descendants)

• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2025), “formiga”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “formiga”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “formiga”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

• Rhymes: -iɡɐ
• Hyphenation: for‧mi‧ga

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese formiga, from Latin formīca, from Proto-Italic *mormīkā, from Proto-Indo-European *morwi-. Compare Galician formiga and Spanish hormiga.

formiga f (plural formigas)

1. ant
   • 2006, Richard Diegues, André Vianco, Alexandre Heredia, Visões de São Paulo - Ensaios Urbanos, Tarja Editorial, →ISBN, page 13:

     Formigas. Formiguinhas pequenininhas, marchando em linha. E elas falam. Elas dizem coisas impossíveis de entender porque eu não falo formiguês.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (by extension, figurative) someone with a sweet tooth
3. (by extension, figurative) a short person

• Kabuverdianu: furminga, forminga
• Papiamentu: fruminga, vruminga

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

formiga

1. inflection of formigar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “formiga”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “formiga”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025

From Latin formīca, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *morwi.

• IPA^(key): /forˈmiɡa/

formiga f (plural formigas)

1. (Limba Sarda Comuna) ant

From Latin formīca. Doublet of hormiga.

• IPA^(key): /foɾˈmiɡa/ [foɾˈmi.ɣ̞a]
• Rhymes: -iɡa
• Syllabification: for‧mi‧ga

formiga f (plural formigas)

1. obsolete spelling of hormiga

See formìga.

formiga f (plural formighe)

1. ant