Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

bug

/bʌɡ/ noun

In Latin: cīmex First recorded: 1620 Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about bug at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

General term for any insect or similar creeping or crawling invertebrate.
A fault or defect in a computer program, system, or machine.
A small hidden microphone; for listening secretly.

verb

Annoy persistently.
The children teased the boy because of his stammer
Tap a telephone or telegraph wire to get information.
The FBI was tapping the phone line of the suspected spy

Origin

First attested in this form around 1620 (referring to a “bedbug”), from earlier bugge (“beetle”), from Middle English bugge (“scarecrow, hobgoblin”) which is traced alternatively to: * a Celtic root found in Scots bogill (“goblin, bugbear”) and obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”); compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat, fear”) and Middle Irish bocanách (“supernatural being”). * Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”); compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge (“goblin, snot”). * or to a word related to buck and originally referring to a goat-shaped spectre.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word