man.tis
n.（名词）【复数】 man.tis.es 或 man.tes [-tôz] Any of various predatory insects of the family Mantidae, primarily tropical but including a few Temperate Zone species, usually pale green and having two pairs of walking legs and powerful, grasping forelimbs. The mantis feeds on live insects, including others of its own kind.Also called mantid 螳螂：任一种螳螂科多种食肉昆虫，主要生活在热带 ，但也有一些生活于温带地区 。常为浅绿色，有两对用来行走的腿和用来抓物的有力前肢。螳螂以其它活的昆虫为食，包括其家族的其它成员也作 mantid
来源：Greek mantis [seer] * see men- 希腊语 mantis [预言家] *参见 men-
<注释>The female mantis has the habit of eating the male after mating.In spite of such behaviorthe mantis is graced with a religious name.Mantis is from the Greek word mantis, meaning .prophet, seer..The Greeks, who made the connection between the upraised front legs of a mantis waiting for its prey and the hands of a prophet in prayer,used the namemantis to mean .the praying mantis.. This word and sense were picked up in Modern Latin and from there came into English,being first recorded in '58.Once we know the origin of the termmantis, we realize that the species namespraying mantis and Mantis religiosa are a bit redundant. Two other names of this sort that have been used for mantises arepraying locust and orator mantis. To understand the latter,we must keep in mind the obsolete sense oforator, .one who makes a prayer or petition.. 雌性螳螂习惯于在交配后吃掉雄性螳螂。尽管存在着这种行为，螳螂还是被赋予了一个具有宗教色彩的名字。Mantis 来源于希腊语 mantis 一词， 意为.先知，预言家.。希腊人把螳螂捕食前高举的前肢与预言家祷告时的双手联系起来，用mantis 一词来表示.祈祷的预言家.。 现代拉丁语吸收了这个词及其意义，英语又从拉丁语中吸取了该词，最早记载见于'58年。我们既然知道了mantis 的来源， 就会发现其属种名praying mantis 和 Mantis religiosa 略有重复。 用来表示螳螂的其它类似名称还有praying locust 和 orator mantis。 要想弄清楚后者，我们必须想到orator 一词的过时的意思.做祷告或祈求的人.
