# worm
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English worm, werm, wurm, wirm, from Old English wyrm (“worm, snake”), from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis, possibly from *wer- (“to turn”). Doublet of vermin and wyrm, the latter of which is a fairly recent borrowing directly from the Old English.
(computing): First computer usage by John Brunner in his 1975 book The Shockwave Rider.
Germanic cognates include Dutch worm, West Frisian wjirm, German Wurm, Swedish orm (“snake”), Norwegian Nynorsk orm (“earthworm or snake”), Danish orm and Yiddish וואָרעם (vorem).
Indo-European cognates include Latin vermis (“worm”), Lithuanian var̃mas (“insect, midge”), Albanian rrime (“rainworm”), Ancient Greek ῥόμος (rhómos, “woodworm”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /wɜːm/
* (US) enPR: wûrm, IPA: /wɝm/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)m

### Noun

worm (plural worms)
* A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm.
** 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. […]’
* More loosely, any of various tubular invertebrates resembling annelids but not closely related to them, such as velvet worms, acorn worms, flatworms, or roundworms.
** 1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 216:Leaning that I might eat, I stretched and clung Over the shapeless depth in which those corpses hung. A woman’s shape, now lank and cold and blue, The dwelling of the many-coloured worm, Hung there […]
* (archaic) A type of wingless "dragon", especially a gigantic sea serpent or any kind of dragon.
** 1922, A. Walsh, Scandinavian Relations with Ireland during the Viking Period:In the Cross of Cong (A.D. 1123) the Celtic inter-laced patterns are found side by side with the "worm-dragon" ornament ..
* (fantasy, science fiction) Either a mythical "dragon" (especially wingless), a gigantic sea serpent, or a creature that resembles a Mongolian death worm.
* A contemptible or devious being.
    Don't try to run away, you little worm!
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 22:6:But I am a worme, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
** 1707, Isaac Watts, “Godly Sorrow ariſing from the Sufferings of Chriſt”, in Hymns and Spiritual Songs, London: J. Humfreys, page 86:Would he devote that Sacred Head / For ſuch a Worm as I?
* (computing) A self-replicating malware that propagates through a network.
    When Trevor opened his email, a worm spread to 100 people in his address book.
* (cricket) A graphical representation of the total runs scored across a number of overs.
* Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
** 1683, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick exercises:If the Worms of the Nut or Spindle be worn, the Spindle must be examin'd by the Smith
** A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms.
** The spiral wire of a corkscrew.
** (anatomy) A muscular band in the tongue of some animals, such as dogs; the lytta.
** The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound to save space.
** A short revolving screw whose threads drive, or are driven by, a worm wheel or rack by gearing into its teeth.
* (archaic or poetic) Any creeping or crawling animal, such as a snake, snail, or caterpillar.
** 1561, Geneva Bible, Acts 28:3-4,
    And when Paul had gathered a nomber of stickes, & laid them on the fyre, there came a viper out of the heat, and leapt on his hand. Now when the Barbarians sawe the worme hang on his hand, they said among them selues This man surely is a murtherer, whome, thogh he hathe escaped the sea, yet Vengeance hathe not suffred to liue.
** 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:[…] No, ’tis slander, Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue Outvenoms all the worms of Nile […]
** 1867, Dante Alighieri, “The Divine Comedy”, in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, transl., Inferno‎, volume I, Boston: Ticknor & Fields, Canto 6, lines 22-24, p. 35:When Cerberus perceived us, the great worm! His mouth he opened and displayed his tusks; Not a limb had he that was motionless.
* (informal or poetic) A maggot.
    Food for the worms.
* (figuratively) An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one’s mind with remorse.
** c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul!
* (mathematics) A strip of linked tiles sharing parallel edges in a tiling.
* (anatomy) The lytta.
* (preceded by definite article) A dance, or dance move, in which the dancer lies on the floor and undulates the body horizontally thereby moving forwards.

#### Usage notes

* It is common to use the plural form worms to refer to intestinal or other internal parasites.
* Although the use of the "worm" to mean "dragon" or "serpent" is archaic, those meanings are in current use in the word "wyrm" which is a doublet of "worm". Wyrm is a fairly recent borrowing directly from the Old English.

#### Derived terms

* anchor worm
* angleworm
* antiworm
* apple worm
* army-worm
* armyworm
* army worm
* arrowworm
* arrow worm
* Asian jumping worm
* backworm
* bagworm*
* bankrupt worm
* basketworm
* beard worm
* beetworm
* blackworm
* bladderworm
* bladder worm
* blindworm (Anguis fragilis)
* blood worm*
* Bobbit worm
* bollworm*
* bone-eating snot flower worm
* bookworm
* book worm
* book-worm
* bootlace worm
* brain worm
* brain-worm
* brainworm
* bristle worm
* budworm
* buffalo worm
* burp the worm
* butt worm
* buzzworm
* cabbage worm
* caddisworm
* caddis worm
* cankerworm
* caseworm
* catworm
* Christmas tree worm
* clam worm
* cockworm
* coconut worm
* common glow-worm
* coneworm
* copperworm
* cornworm
* cotton worm
* cryptoworm
* cutworm (Noctuidae spp.)
* deepwater big-eyed worm eel
* deworm
* dewworm
* dragon worm
* dropworm
* early bird catches the worm
* earthworm (Lumbricina)
* ear-worm
* ear worm
* earworm
* eelworm
* eigenworm
* even a worm will turn
* eyeworm
* feather duster worm
* fireworm
* fishing worm
* fishworm
* flagworm
* flatworm (phylum Platyhelminthes)
* fleshworm
* flukeworm
* fruitworm
* galley-worm
* galley worm
* gapeworm
* giant thorny-headed worm of swine
* giant tube worm
* glowworm
* glow-worm
* gnatworm
* Gordian worm
* gourdworm
* grindal worm
* Grindal worm
* groundworm
* grubworm
* grugru worm
* guinea-worm
* guinea worm
* Guinea worm disease
* gummy worm
* gun worm
* hairworm
* heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis)
* herring worm
* hookworm
* hornworm
* horsehair worm
* horseshoe worm
* horseworm
* ice worm
* inchworm
* innkeeper worm
* jaw worm
* jointworm
* jumping worm
* juniper worm
* leaf-worm
* leafworm
* lob-worm
* lob worm
* lugworm
* lungworm
* maltworm
* mango worm
* mason worm
* maw worm
* maw-worm
* mealworm
* mealworm beetle
* measuring worm
* melonworm
* miner's worm
* Mongolian death worm
* Moser's worm problem
* muckworm
* mudworm
* nanoworm
* oh worm
* palisade worm
* palmer worm
* palmerworm
* palmer-worm
* palmworm
* palolo worm
* parchment worm
* peacock worm
* peanut worm
* penis worm
* phlox worm
* pickleworm
* pileworm
* pillworm
* pinworm
* polystyrene worm
* Pompeii worm
* potato worm
* potworm
* proboscis worm
* ragworm
* railroad worm
* rainworm
* red worm
* redworm
* ribbon worm
* ringed worm
* ringworm
* rootworm
* roseworm
* roundworm
* rye-worm
* sand mason worm
* sand tube worm
* sandworm
* screwworm
* seatworm
* sea worm
* segmented worm
* shipworm
* silkworm
* skin worm
* slow worm
* slow-worm
* slugworm
* sour worm
* spaghetti worm
* spanworm
* spanworm
* spindleworm
* spiny-headed worm
* spiral worm
* spoon worm
* spoonworm
* stagworm
* stomach worm
* stoor worm
* strawworm
* superworm
* taintworm
* tank-worm
* tapeworm
* tape-worm
* the early bird catches the worm
* the early bird gets the worm
* the worm has turned
* thorny worm
* threadworm
* thunderworm
* tomato worm
* tongueworm
* tongue worm
* tree worm
* trematode worm
* tube worm
* tubeworm
* waxworm
* webworm
* wheal-worm
* wheatworm
* whipworm
* white worm
* whiteworm
* wiggle worm
* winter worm
* wireworm
* witworm
* wolf worm
* woodworm
* woolly worm
* wormable
* worm and wheel
* worm ball
* wormball
* worm bark
* worm burner
* wormcast
* worm cast
* worm castle
* worm charming
* worm-eaten
* worm-eating warbler
* wormer
* wormery
* worm fence
* worm fever
* wormfish
* worm food
* worm-food
* wormfowl
* worm gear
* wormgrass
* wormhole
* wormhood
* wormicide
* worm in the apple
* wormish
* wormless
* wormlet
* wormlike
* worm-like
* wormling
* wormlion
* worm lizard
* wormly
* worm moon
* worm oil
* worm out
* worm pick
* wormproof
* wormridden
* worm-ridden
* wormroot
* wormseed
* worm-shell
* worm shell
* wormshit
* wormskin
* worm-star
* worm tea
* worm turns
* worm wheel
* wormwood
* Wormworld
* wormy
* worm’s-eye view, worm’s eye view
* wug
* Y worm
* zombie worm

#### Translations

Abenaki: skoks, skoksis
Acehnese: ulat
Adyghe: хьамлыу (ḥamləwu), (Shapsug) хьэблыу (ḥɛbləwu)
Afrikaans: wurm (af)
Ainu: キキㇼ (kikir)
Albanian: krimb (sq)
Alutor: энгам (enɣam)
Amharic: ትል (təl)
Arabic: دُودَة f (dūda), دُود pl (dūd) (collective)
Egyptian Arabic: دود m (dūd) (collective), دودة f (dūda) (singulative)
Gulf Arabic: دود m (dūd)
Hassaniya Arabic: دود (dūd)
Iraqi Arabic: دود (dūd), سلبوح (salbūħ)
Moroccan Arabic: دودة m (duda)
North Levantine Arabic: دودي f (dūdi), سوسي f (sūsi)
San'ani Arabic: تعاله m (taʕālih), وقزه m (wagzih)
South Levantine Arabic: دودة (dude)
Tunisian Arabic: دودة (dūda)
Armenian: որդ (hy) (ord), ճիճու (hy) (čiču)
Old Armenian: որդն (ordn)
Aromanian: yermu
Asturian: guxán (ast) m, viérbene (ast) m or f
Atayal: bisuw
Azerbaijani: qurd (az), soxulcan (az)
Bashkir: ҡорт (qort), (eathworm) селәүсен (seləwsen)
Basque: beldar, zizare, arr, har
Belarusian: чарвя́к m (čarvják)
Bengali: কীট (bn) (kiṭ)
Bhojpuri: कीड़ा (kīṛā)
Breton: preñv (br) m
Brunei Malay: cacing
Budukh: чич (čič)
Bulgarian: че́рвей (bg) m (čérvej)
Burmese: တီကောင် (my) (tikaung) (earthworm), သန်ကောင် (my) (sankaung) (intestinal parasite)
Catalan: cuc (ca) m
Cebuano: ulod
Chamicuro: keni
Chechen: нӏаьна (nˀäna)
Chickasaw: hayowani'
Chinese:
Mandarin: 蠕蟲 / 蠕虫 (zh) (rúchóng)
Chuvash: хурт (hurt)
Cimbrian: please add this translation if you can
Cornish: pryv m, prev m
Czech: červ (cs) m
Danish: orm (da) c
Daur: xorgw
Dutch: worm (nl) m, pier (nl) m, wurm (nl) m
Egyptian: (fnṯ)
Erzya: сукс (suks)
Esperanto: vermo (eo)
Estonian: uss (et)
Finnish: mato (fi)
French: ver (fr) m
Friulian: vier
Galician: verme (gl) m, miñoca (gl) f, lombriga f
Georgian: ჭია (ka) (č̣ia)
German: Wurm (de) m
Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌼𐍃 m (waurms), 𐌼𐌰𐌸𐌰 m (maþa)
Greek: σκουλήκι (el) n (skoulíki)
Ancient: σκώληξ m (skṓlēx), (parasitic) ἕλμινς f (hélmins), ἕλμις f (hélmis)
Haitian Creole: ve
Hebrew: תּוֹלַעַת (he) f (tolá'at)
Higaonon: olod
Hindi: कीड़ा (hi) m (kīṛā), पोका (hi) m (pokā), किर्म (hi) m (kirm)
Hungarian: kukac (hu), féreg (hu), giliszta (hu), hernyó (hu)
Hunsrik: Worrem m
Icelandic: maðkur (is) m, ormur (is)
Indonesian: cacing (id)
Ingush: нӏана (nˀana)
Interlingua: verme
Irish: péist (ga) f, cruimh f, cuideog f
Old Irish: cruim f
Italian: verme (it) m
Japanese: 蠕虫 (ja) (ぜんちゅう, zenchū), ワーム (ja) (wāmu)
Javanese: cacing (jv)
Kabardian: хьэпӏацӏэ (kbd) (ḥɛpʼacʼɛ), хьэмбылыу (ḥɛmbələwu)
Kannada: ಹುಳು (kn) (huḷu)
Karachay-Balkar: къурт (qurt)
Kazakh: құрт (qūrt)
Khmer: ដង្កូវ (km) (dɑngkəw)
Korean: 벌레 (ko) (beolle)
Kryts: çiç
Kumyk: хурт (xurt)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کرم (kirm)
Northern Kurdish: kirm (ku) m, kurm (ku) m
Kyrgyz: курт (ky) (kurt)
Ladino: guzano m
Lao: ຂີ້ກະເດືອນ (khī ka dư̄an), ຫນອນ (nǭn)
Latgalian: tuorps m, tuorpeņš m
Latin: vermis (la) m
Latvian: tārps (lv) m
Laz: წიწი (ǯiǯi)
Lithuanian: kirmėlė (lt) f, kirminas m (also means larva)
Low German: Worm (nds) m
German Low German: Worm (nds) m
Lushootseed: sʔuləč̓
Luxembourgish: Mued m, Wuerm m
Macedonian: црв (mk) m (crv)
Malagasy: kankana (mg)
Malay: cacing (ms)
Malayalam: പുഴു (ml) (puḻu)
Maltese: dudu m
Mangghuer: zhuolian khuerghai
Mansaka: orod
Manx: beishteig f
Maori: noke, toke (mi)
Mapudungun: piru
Maranao: oled
Mazanderani: اجیک (ajik)
Mbyá Guaraní: evo'i
Mòcheno: please add this translation if you can
Mohegan-Pequot: ohq
Mongghul: huarighii
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: өт (mn) (öt), хорхой (mn) (xorxoj)
Nahuatl: ocuilin
Navajo: chʼosh
Neapolitan: vierme m
Nivkh: ӽар̌ (ẋař), чхевр̌ (ț’xevř)
Norman: vèr m (Jersey)
North Frisian: wörem m
Northern Yukaghir: көдьэ (köd̦e)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: mark (no) m, orm (no) m
Occitan: vèrm (oc) m
Odia: କୃମି (or) (krumi)
Ojibwe: moose
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: чрьвь m (črĭvĭ), глиста f (glista)
Glagolitic: ⱍⱃⱐⰲⱐ m (črĭvĭ)
Old Czech: črv m
Old English: wyrm m
Oromo: rammoo
Ossetian: калм (kalm)
Ottoman Turkish: قورت (kurt), صوغلجان (soğulcan)
Pannonian Rusyn: хробак m (xrobak), хлїста f (xljista)
Pashto: چومجى m (čumjáy), چينجى m (činjáy)
Persian:
Dari: کِرْم (kirm)
Iranian Persian: کِرْم (kerm)
Piedmontese: verm m
Pipil: kwilin
Plautdietsch: Worm (nds) m
Polabian: modĕk m, godĕk m
Polish: robak (pl) m, (grub) czerw (pl) m
Portuguese: minhoca (pt) f, verme (pt) m
Punjabi: ਸੁੰਡੀ (pa) f (suṇḍī)
Quechua: kuru
Romani: kirmo m
Romanian: vierme (ro) m, râmă (ro) f
Romansch: verm m, vierm m, vearm m
Russian: червь (ru) m (červʹ), червя́к (ru) m (červják), (helminth) глист (ru) m (glist)
Sanskrit: कृमि (sa) m (kṛmi)
Sardinian: belme m, solde m
Saterland Frisian: Wuurm m
Scottish Gaelic: baoiteag f, biastag f, boiteag f, brùiteag f, brutag (gd) f, cnuimh f, daolag (gd) f, durrag f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: цр̑в m, гли́ста f
Roman: cȓv (sh) m, glísta (sh) f
Sherpa: འབུ ('bu)
Sicilian: vemmu m
Sinhalese: පණු (paṇu)
Slovak: červ (sk) m
Slovene: črv (sl) m
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: wužeńc m, cerw m
Upper Sorbian: čerw m
Sotho: seboko (st)
Southern Altai: курт (kurt)
Spanish: gusano (es) m, lombriz (es) f
Sranan Tongo: woron
Sundanese: cacing (su)
Swahili: funza (sw) class ji/ma
Swedish: mask (sv) c
Tajik: кирм (tg) (kirm)
Tamil: புழு (ta) (puḻu)
Taos: pʼȍwàyaʼána
Tarantino: vijèrme m
Tariana: hení-si
Tatar: суалчан (tt) (suwalçan)
Tausug: ud
Telugu: పురుగు (te) (purugu)
Tetum: ular
Thai: หนอน (th) (nɔ̌ɔn)
Tibetan: འབུ ('bu), སྲིན (srin), སྲིན་བུ (srin bu)
Tigrinya: ሓሰኻ (ḥasäxa)
Tlingit: tl'úk'x
Tocharian B: yel
Turkish: kurt (tr), solucan (tr)
Turkmen: gurçuk, möjek (tk)
Udmurt: нумыр (numyr)
Ugaritic: 𐎚𐎍𐎓 (tlʿ)
Ukrainian: черв'я́к m (červʺják), черв m (červ) (scientific), хроба́к m (xrobák)
Unami: hupèxkw
Urdu: کِیڑا m (kīṛā), پوکا m (pokā), کِرْم m (kirm)
Uyghur: قۇرت (qurt)
Uzbek: qurt (uz)
Venetan: vèrmen (vec) m, vèrme (vec) m, budèl m, bigat m
Vietnamese: giun (vi), trùn (vi)
Vilamovian: wüm m
Volapük: vum (vo), (collective) vumem
Welsh: abwydyn m, mwydyn m, pryf genwair m, (intestinal) llyngyren f,
Yakut: үөн (üön)
Yiddish: וואָרעם (vorem)
Yucatec Maya: nook'ol
Zealandic: wurm m
Zulu: isibungu class 7/8 :

#### References

* ↑ Sea serpent at Wikipedia
* ↑ Dragon (Middle-earth) at Wikipedia
* ↑ Sandworm (Dune) at Wikipedia

### Verb

worm (third-person singular simple present worms, present participle worming, simple past and past participle wormed)
* (transitive) To make (one's way) with a crawling motion.
    We wormed our way through the underbrush.
* (intransitive) To move with one's body dragging the ground.
** 1919, William Joseph Long, How animals talk: and other pleasant studies of birds and beast:Inch by inch I wormed along the secret passageway, flat to the ground, not once raising my head, hardly daring to pull a full breath […].
* (intransitive, figuratively) To work one's way by artful or devious means.
** [1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC:When debates and fretting jealousy / Did worm and work within you more and more, / Your colour faded.
* (transitive, figuratively) To work (one's way or oneself) (into) gradually or slowly; to insinuate.
    He wormed his way into the organization.
** 2021 May 27, Andrew Orlowski, “You think the BBC is biased? Check out Wokepedia”, in The Telegraph‎:With “facts” generated by Wikipedia worming themselves into every corner of our digital lives, such as your Alexa speaker or iPhone, perhaps it’s the ubiquity of information that’s the problem – and something that should concern us all.
* (often followed by out) To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means.
** 1731, Jonathan Swift, The Presbyterians Plea of Merit:They […] find themselves wormed out of all power.
* (transitive, figuratively, in “worm out of”) To drag out of, to get information that someone is reluctant or unwilling to give (through artful or devious means or by pleading or asking repeatedly).
** 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 17, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:They […] wormed things out of me that I had no desire to tell.
** 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter XXII, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 1738:He nodded. "Mum's the word, Mrs. Bunting! It'll all be in the last editions of the evening newspapers—it can't be kep' out. There'd be too much of a row if twas!" "Are you going off to that public-house now?" she asked. "I've got a awk'ard job—to try and worm something out of the barmaid."
* (transitive, nautical) To fill in the contlines of (a rope) before parcelling and serving.
    Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.
** 1841, Benjamin J. Totten, Naval Text-Book‎:Ropes […] are generally wormed before they are served.
* (transitive) To deworm (an animal).
* (transitive) To cut the worm, or lytta, from under the tongue of (a dog, etc.) for the purpose of checking a disposition to gnaw, and formerly supposed to guard against canine madness.
** 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:The men […] assisted the laird in his sporting parties, wormed his dogs, and cut the ears of his terrier puppies.
* (transitive) To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge from, as a firearm.

#### Translations
### See also

* caterpillar
* grub
* lumbricine
* maggot
* Trojan horse
* vermian
* vermiform
* virus

### References

* The Free Dictionary, Farlex Inc., 2010.

### Anagrams

* mrow

## Cornish
### Adjective

worm
* Soft mutation of gorm.
* Mixed mutation after 'th of gorm.

## Dutch
### Alternative forms

* wurm

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʋɔrm/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: worm
* Rhymes: -ɔrm

### Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch worm, from Old Dutch *wurm, *worm, from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis. Compare English worm, West Frisian wjirm, German Wurm, Danish orm.

#### Noun

worm m (plural wormen, diminutive wormpje n)
* worm, vernacular term for various, mostly legless invertebrates; often nematodes or legless arthropod larvae.

##### Derived terms

* aardworm
* aarsworm
* aasworm
* gewormte
* haringworm
* hazelworm
* houtworm
* lindeworm
* lintworm
* meelworm
* oorworm
* paalworm
* regenworm
* ringworm
* rondworm
* spoelworm
* wormendarm
* wormenpoep
* wormenvoer

##### Descendants

* Afrikaans: wurm
* Berbice Creole Dutch: worum
* Negerhollands: worm, wurum

##### See also

* pier

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

worm
* inflection of wormen:
** first-person singular present indicative
** (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
** imperative

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* werm, wirm, wurm, wyrm, wyrme, wrim, worme

### Etymology

From Old English wyrm, from Proto-West Germanic *wurmi, from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈwurm/, /ˈwɛrm/, /ˈwirm/

### Noun

worm (plural wormes or wormen)
* A worm or similar small wormlike animal that lives in the ground; especially in the following special senses:
** A wormish insect that damages plants or plant-based material (e.g. a termite).
** A wormish insect that damages human remains.
** A parasitic worm; especially one living in the stomach.
* A crawling animal; an animal that moves upon the ground.
* An animal regarded as harmful and annoying.
* A snake or snake-like monster.
* A dragon, drake, or wyrm (mythological fire-breathing winged lizard)
* A beast that inhabits Hell; causing suffering to its inhabitants.
* A pauper, miser, or other contemptuous individual.
* regret, forgiveness; the twanging of the heartstrings.
* evil, malice; that which promotes maliciousness.
* (biblical) The snake of Eden.
* (Christianity, rare) Satan, the Devil.
* (veterinary, rare) A muscle underneath the tongue of a dog seen as increasing the risk of rabies.

#### Related terms

* glouworm
* wormwode

#### Descendants

* English: worm
* Scots: worm, wirm

#### References

* “wǒrm, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-02.

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English worm.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈwoʁ.mi/ [ˈwoɦ.mi]
* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈwoʁ.mi/ [ˈwoɦ.mi]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /ˈwoɾ.mi/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /ˈwoʁ.mi/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ˈwoɻ.me/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈwoɾ.mɨ/

### Noun

worm m (plural worms)
* (computer security) worm (self-replicating program)