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larva
7 dictionary results for: Larva
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
lar·va 
[lahr-vuh] Pronunciation Key
[lahr-vuh] Pronunciation Key –noun, plural -vae
[-vee] Pronunciation Key.
[-vee] Pronunciation Key. | 1. | Entomology. the immature, wingless, feeding stage of an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis. |
| 2. | any animal in an analogous immature form. |
| 3. | the young of any invertebrate animal. |
| 4. | larvae, Roman Antiquity. malignant ghosts, as lemures. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| lar·va
(lär'və) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. lar·vae (-vē) or lar·vas
[Latin lārva, specter, mask (because it acts as a specter of or a mask for the adult form).] lar'val adj. Word History: The word larva referring to the newly hatched form of insects before they undergo metamorphosis comes from the Latin word lārva, meaning "evil spirit, demon, devil." To understand why this should be so, first we need to know that the Latin word also was used for a terrifying mask, and in Medieval Latin it could mean "mask or visor." Larva is therefore an appropriate term for that stage of an insect's life during which its final form is still hidden or masked, and New Latin lārva was thus applied in 1691 by Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who originated our system of classifying plants and animals. The word larva is first recorded in English in its scientific sense in 1768, although it had been used in its "spirit" sense in 1651 in a way that foreshadowed the usage by Linnaeus. |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
larva
larva
1651, "a ghost, specter," from L. larva, earlier larua "ghost," also "mask;" applied in biological sense 1768 by Linnaeus because immature forms of insects "mask" the adult forms. On the double sense of the L. word, Carlo Ginzburg, among other students of mythology and folklore, has commented on "the well-nigh universal association between masks and the spirits of the dead."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| larva | |
noun | |
| the immature free-living form of most invertebrates and amphibians and fish which at hatching from the egg is fundamentally unlike its parent and must metamorphose |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| larva
(lär'və) Pronunciation Key
Plural larvae (lär'vē) or larvas
|
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
lar'val adj.
larva lar·va (lär'və)
n. pl. lar·vas or lar·vae (-vē)
- The newly hatched, wingless, often wormlike form of many insects before metamorphosis.
- The newly hatched, earliest stage of any of various animals that undergo metamorphosis, differing markedly in form and appearance from the adult.
lar'val adj.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Larva
Lar"va\, n.; pl. L. Larv[ae], E. Larvas. [L. larva ghost, specter, mask.]1. (Zo["o]l.) Any young insect from the time that it hatches from the egg until it becomes a pupa, or chrysalis. During this time it usually molts several times, and may change its form or color each time. The larv[ae] of many insects are much like the adults in form and habits, but have no trace of wings, the rudimentary wings appearing only in the pupa stage. In other groups of insects the larv[ae] are totally unlike the parents in structure and habits, and are called caterpillars, grubs, maggots, etc. 2. (Zo["o]l.) The early, immature form of any animal when more or less of a metamorphosis takes place, before the assumption of the mature shape.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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