Added 9 October 2026
worm
/wɜːm/ noun
In Latin: vermis Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about worm at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm.
- More loosely, any of various tubular invertebrates resembling annelids but not closely related to them, such as velvet worms, acorn worms, flatworms, or roundworms. See Appendix:English worms.
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Any creeping or crawling animal, such as a snake (cf. “dragon”; blindworm, slowworm, “legless lizard”), snail, or caterpillar. A maggot or any other insect larva with similar shape and behavior.
Those little wriggling worms are the larvae of flies who laid eggs here.
verb
Origin
From Middle English werm, wirm, worm, worme, wrim, wurm, wyrm, wyrme, from Old English weorm, wurm, wyrm, from Proto-West Germanic *wurmi, from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz (“worm; snake”), from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis (“worm; larva”), possibly from *wer- (“to turn”). Doublet of vermin and wyrm, the latter of which is a fairly recent borrowing directly from the Old English. (computing): First computer usage by John Brunner in his 1975 book The Shockwave Rider.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)