Where does “bookworm” come from?
Bookworm comes from English book and wyrm, the Old English word for serpent or dragon, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to bend and to break.
bookworm (English): Any of various insects that infest books; An avid...
Definitions
- Any of various insects that infest books; An avid...
Ancestry of “bookworm”, step by step
bookworm traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Worm
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Worm | A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm |
| 2 | Middle English | worm | A worm or similar small wormlike animal that... |
| 3 | Old English | wyrm | creeping insect; maggot, grub, worm; snake,... |
| 4 | Old English | lēah | meadow; clearing with a pigsty; woodland,... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | lauh | clearing; meadow |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | lauhaz | clearing; meadow |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | lówkos | clearing; open space, clearing; field, meadow |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | lewḱ- | lynx |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | lewk- | bright; to shine; to see |
via English Book
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Book | the Bible |
| 2 | German | būch | book collection of sheets of paper bound together to hinge at one edge; long work fit for publication |
| 3 | Middle High German | buoch | — |
| 4 | Old High German | buoh | book |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | bōk | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | bakaną | to bake |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₃g- | to bake, to roast, to fry |