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vermine

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Etymology and origin of the French word vermine

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1121–1134 Philippe de Thaon, Bestiaire More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Latin vermis

Forms

vermine f (uncountable)[1] Old French also had a masculine vermin (13th century).[2]

Etymology

The TLFi and the GLLF take it as formed from Old French verm (“worm”) + -ine, from the old form of ver.[3][4][5] Rey and the Robert dictionaries instead see a borrowing from Latin vermina (“worms”), plural of vermen (“worm”), a rare doublet of vermis.[2][6][7] The Latin plural also meant a disease caused by worms and, by figure, spasms and convulsive movements.[2][6][7] Wiktionary allows a Vulgar Latin *verminum, and Littré supposed a Latin adjective *vermineus (“of worms”).[1][8]

Cognate with Walloon vermeinn, Picard vermeinn and Old Occitan vermena.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–1134) has it for harmful creatures of every kind, such as mice and snakes.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

That broad sense was still found at the start of the 17th century.[2] From 1174 the word chiefly meant the parasitic insects of people and animals: Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence describes the hair shirt of Thomas Becket swarming with it.[3][2][8] In 1434 it was used for insects and larvae that feed on plant or animal matter.[3]

By figure it meant a contemptible person in Eustache Deschamps (late 14th century), and in 1576 Bodin used it collectively for people seen as harmful to society.[3][2] An argot use for “lawyer” (1837) has died out, but insulting uses remain.[2]

Timeline

  • 1121–1134 – Philippe de Thaon uses it for harmful creatures.[3]
  • 1174 – Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence uses it for lice and fleas.[3]
  • Late 14th century – Eustache Deschamps uses it of a contemptible person.[3]
  • 1434 – The Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris uses it for insects that feed on matter.[3]
  • 1576 – Bodin uses it for a mass of harmful people.[3][2]
  • 1837 – Argot uses it for a lawyer.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (collective) vermin: the parasitic insects of people and animals, such as lice, fleas and bedbugs.[7][9][10]
  2. Insects or larvae that feed on plant or animal matter.[4][3]
  3. (figurative, literary) A mass of contemptible people, rabble.[7][10]
  4. (familiar) A contemptible person, used as an insult.[7][10]

Word family

  • vermineux

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 292b
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Vermine.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/vermine. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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