Where does “mealworm” come from?
mealworm (English) comes from English meal, from English molé, from English Moll, from English mary, from French marie, from Old French Marie, from Latin Marīa, from Ancient Greek Μαρία.
mealworm (English): The larval stage of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor), a species of darkling beetle
Definitions
- The larval stage of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor), a species of darkling beetle
Ancestry of “mealworm”, step by step
mealworm traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English meal
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | meal | Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a... |
| 2 | English | molé | Alternative spelling of mole |
| 3 | English | Moll | A pet name for Mary |
| 4 | English | mary | A male homosexual |
| 5 | French | marie | first-person singular present indicative of... |
| 6 | Old French | Marie | — |
| 7 | Latin | Marīa | Mary mother of Jesus |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | Μαρία | Mary, Maria |
| 9 | Hebrew | מִרְיָם | — |
| 10 | Aramaic | מרים | bitter |
| 11 | Biblical Hebrew | מִרְיָם | — |
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 |