scarab

scarab — noun

1. a large beetle from the Scarabaeidae family that lives in hot, dry regions. In a

1.nounC1
Definition

a large beetle from the Scarabaeidae family that lives in hot, dry regions. In ancient Egypt, this insect was treated as a holy creature because people connected its behaviour with the movement of the sun.

Example

Marco found a dead scarab near the Nile and showed it to the guide.

The scarab beetle appears in many ancient Egyptian wall paintings and stone carvings.

scarab in Egyptian art: collocation with wall paintings

Common collocations
  • sacred scarab
  • scarab beetle
  • giant scarab
  • live scarab
Synonyms
  • dung beetle

    refers to a subgroup of scarabs that feed on animal waste; not all scarabs are dung beetles

Grammar Patterns

scarab + verb

a/the scarab

Usage Note

In ancient Egyptian religion, the scarab was seen as a symbol of the sun god Ra because it rolls balls of dung across the ground, just as Ra was believed to move the sun across the sky. This made the beetle a sacred creature.

2. a small piece of stone, metal, or glass carved to look like a beetle, made in an

2.nounC1
Definition

a small piece of stone, metal, or glass carved to look like a beetle, made in ancient Egypt. People wore or carried it as a charm for good luck, a piece of jewellery, or a symbol of new life after death.

Example

Nellie bought a small gold scarab necklace at the museum gift shop in Cairo.

gold scarab necklace: material + jewellery context

Archaeologists found a blue stone scarab inside an ancient Egyptian tomb near Luxor.

Common collocations
  • gold scarab
  • stone scarab
  • scarab amulet
  • scarab ring
  • blue scarab
  • carved scarab
Synonyms
  • scarab amulet

    emphasises the protective, magical purpose of the object

  • scarab pendant

    used when the object was worn on a chain or cord around the neck

Grammar Patterns

scarab + noun (modifier)

a/the scarab

Usage Note

Scarab amulets were often placed inside the wrappings of a mummy to protect the dead person in the afterlife. They were commonly made from stone, faience (a type of glazed ceramic), or carved from precious metals and gems.

Word family

  • scarabaeid
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Scarab refers specifically to beetles of the Scarabaeidae family, especially those that ancient Egyptians considered sacred. Dung beetle is a narrower term — it describes scarabs that collect animal waste for food and breeding. Many people use 'scarab' to mean the Egyptian dung beetle (Scarabaeus sacer), but the term also covers related species that do not feed on dung. 'Beetle' is the general word for any insect in the order Coleoptera. In archaeology contexts, 'scarab' almost always refers to the carved amulet (sense 2), not the living insect. For example, a museum label might say 'this scarab was buried with a pharaoh' — referring to the object, not the bug.

scarab ↗dung beetlebeetle ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • scarab beetle
  • scarab amulet
  • scarab ring
  • scarab necklace

Phrases

  • sacred scarab
  • carved scarab
  • ancient Egyptian scarab

Prepositions

  • scarab from the tomb
  • scarab of the New Kingdom

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The word comes from Latin scarabaeus, which meant 'beetle'. It passed into English through French scarabée during the Renaissance, when European scholars became fascinated with ancient Egyptian culture. The modern English spelling 'scarab' appeared in the late 1500s, first used in texts about the natural world and later adopted into archaeology for the carved beetle-shaped amulets.