worm English · revision 39696

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English, Beowulf|origins=ine-pro *wr̥mis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /wɝm/^(Wiktionary)

+ * UK: /wɜːm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|worm]], [[inh|ang|wyrm|t=serpent, dragon; reptile; worm]], later also [[m|ang|wurm]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Bosworth-Toller) [[inh|gem-pro|*wurmiz]].^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Ayto 2005) Its cognates include [[m|ofs|wirm]], [[m|osx|wurm]], [[m|goh|wurm]] (German [[m|de|Wurm]]), [[m|nl|worm]], [[m|non|ormr|t=serpent]] and [[m|got|𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌼𐍃|tr=waurms|t=serpent]].^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966)^(Holthausen 1934) The Germanic word comes from [[ine-pro|*wr̥mis|t=worm]],^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) and is related to [[m|la|vermis|t=worm]], the source of [[vermin]] and [[vermilion]],^(Ayto 2005)^(Hoad 1986)^(Kroonen 2013) and to [[m|grc|ῥόμος|tr=rhómos|t=woodworm]].^(Klein 1966)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Watkins, followed by Etymonline and Ayto, derives it from [[m|ine-pro|*wer-|t=to turn, bend]], which would make the worm the "twisting" creature.^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005)^(AHD 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A serpent or dragon: in ''Beowulf'', where the dragon awakes ("se wyrm onwóc").^(OED 2026)^(Bosworth-Toller)^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart dates ''Beowulf'' to about 725.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ According to Ayto, the word's ancestral meaning was "snake", and its use for small limbless creatures is secondary.^(Ayto 2005) In Old English it already covered any creeping animal, reptile or insect,^(OED 2026)^(Bosworth-Toller) the earthworm,^(OED 2026)^(Cresswell 2021) insect larvae such as the silkworm, and the parasitic worms of the body, together with the disease they cause,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and through Middle English it was used of any crawling creature thought noxious, including scorpions and maggots.^(Etymonline) Trench (1859) noted that the word once covered all serpents, that in some northern dialects all snakes were still ''worms'', and that ''blindworm'' and ''slowworm'' keep the old use;^(Trench 1859) the dragon of the folk tale of the Lambton Worm is another survival.^(Cresswell 2021) As an insult for a vile or wretched person it goes back to Old English.^(Etymonline) The proverb that even a worm will turn is first recorded in John Heywood's collection of 1546, as "Tread a worm on the tail and it must turn again".^(OED 2026)^(Cresswell 2021) Implements of spiral form were called ''worms'' from 1594, including the coiled pipe of a still (1651) and the thread of a screw (1678).^(HTOED) The verb is recorded from 1564;^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) its sense "to move sinuously" dates from about 1600,^(Etymonline)^(HTOED) and figurative ''worm one's way'' from the 1620s.^(Etymonline) ''Can of worms'', a tangled problem, dates from 1951.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) In 1975 the science-fiction writer John Brunner used ''worm'' (and ''tapeworm'') in ''The Shockwave Rider'' for a self-replicating program that spreads through a computer network, and the term passed into computing.^(Oxford New Words 1997)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – a serpent or dragon (''Beowulf'').^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * Old English – an earthworm; an insect larva; a parasitic worm.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1546 – the proverb of the worm that turns.^(OED 2026)^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1564 – verb, first recorded.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1575 – verb, to hunt for worms.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1594 – a tool of spiral form.^(HTOED)

+ * c1600 – verb, to move like a worm.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1624 – verb, to rid plants of grubs.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1678 – the thread of a screw.^(HTOED)

+ * 1908 – ''worm's-eye view''.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1932 – verb, to treat an animal for parasitic worms.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1951 – ''can of worms''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1975 – a self-replicating computer program (John Brunner).^(Oxford New Words 1997)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of many small [[invertebrate]] animals with a long, soft, limbless body, such as the [[earthworm]], [[roundworm]] or [[flatworm]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # An insect [[larva]] with a long body, such as a [[caterpillar]] or [[grub]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (in plural) Infestation of the intestines by [[parasitic]] worms.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # A weak or [[despicable]] person: ''He's a spineless worm.''^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+ # Something that gnaws at or slowly eats away the mind: ''a worm of doubt''.^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something of spiral or winding form, such as the [[thread]] of a [[screw]] or the coiled pipe of a still.^(Collins 2023)^(HTOED)

+ # (computing) A program that copies itself and spreads through a network, often harmfully.^(Oxford New Words 1997)

+ # (archaic) A serpent or dragon.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To move slowly and [[sinuous|alt=sinuously]], twisting through a narrow space: ''She wormed through the crowd to the front.''^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To get into a position or obtain something by slow, [[cunning]] means, as in ''worm one's way into'' or ''worm a secret out of someone''.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+ # To treat an animal for parasitic worms: ''We worm the dogs twice a year.''^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[wormlike]]

+ * [[wormer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vermin]]

+ * [[vermilion]]

+ * [[vermicelli]]

+ * [[wyrm]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}