larval

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin larvālis (“of or relating to ghosts”),^[2][3][4][5] from larva (“ghost, evil spirit; mask”) and the adjective suffix -ālis.^[3][6][7] Merriam-Webster Unabridged takes the zoological sense as larvalis, formed in New Latin from the zoological noun.^[7] The Latin noun larva is of unknown origin; de Vaan, as quoted by Etymonline, finds a link with Lār (“household god”) attractive in meaning.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or belonging to ghosts or spirits: in 1656 Blount's Glossographia defined it as belonging to a night-spirit, goblin or masker, haggish, ghastly, dreadful.^[3][2] This sense is recorded only in the mid 17th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word followed the change in meaning of larva, which zoologists had taken from the Latin "ghost, mask" for the grub stage of an insect.^[3][7] The zoological sense, of or relating to a larva, is found by 1837 according to Etymonline;^[3] the OED's first record is from 1848, in Maunder's Treasury of Natural History;^[2] from 1864 it was also said of an animal in the condition of a larva.^[2] In medicine it was used from 1897 of a disease that is latent or undeveloped, and of diseases that disfigure the face as if with a mask.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also records a figurative use, immature or undeveloped of its kind.^[7]

Timeline

• 1656 – of or relating to a ghost or spirit (obsolete).^[2][6]
• 1848 – of, relating to or characteristic of a larva.^[2]
• 1864 – of an animal, being in the larval condition.^[2]
• 1897 – in pathology, of a disease, latent or undeveloped.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or typical of a larva; being in the condition of a larva: the larval stage of a beetle.^[7][2][6]
2. Immature or undeveloped of its kind: larval ambitions.^[7]
3. (pathology) Of a disease, latent or not fully developed.^[2]
4. (obsolete) Of or relating to ghosts or spirits.^[2][6][7]

Word family

• postlarval

Related words

• larva
• larvae

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster