Origin: 1685–95; < L
verminātus, ptp. of
vermināre to be infested with maggots, to have racking pains, equiv. to
vermin(
a) racking pain +
-ātus -ate 1 ; dual sense of
vermināre by assoc. with
vermis worm, maggot,
vermin- being taken, perh. erroneously, as an extended s. of this word
[vur-muh-neyt] 