antenna

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
antenna/anˈtenə/

▶noun (pl. antennae /-niː/)

• 1 Zoology a long, thin sensory appendage found in pairs on the heads of insects and some other arthropods.

• 2 (pl. also antennas) chiefly N. Amer. or technical an aerial.

• 3 (antennae) the faculty of instinctively detecting and interpreting subtle signs: his political antennae remain as sharp as ever.

– derivatives
antennal adjective,
antennary adjective.

– origin C17: from L., alt. of antemna ‘yard’ (of a ship), used in pl. to translate Gk keraioi ‘horns (of insects)’.