Word: vermiculation Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from Latin vermiculātiōnem, from vermiculor (“to be worm-eaten, to be wormy”) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or the results of actions) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-tis (suffix forming abstract or action nouns from verb roots)). The Latin verb is from vermis (“worm”) (from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis (“worm”), possibly from *wer- (“to turn”)). Pronunciation: /vəmɪkjʊˈleɪʃ(ə)n/, /vɚˌmɪkjuˈleɪʃ(ə)n/, /-kjə-/ 1. The process of being turned into a worm. Labels: countable, obsolete, rare, uncountable Example: But yet the queſtion would be, whether Flyes are not immediately generated of putrefaction, and not thoſe of worms. For experience witneſſeth that there are a certain kinde of Flies which are begotten in the back of the Elm, Turpentine-tree, Wormwood, and ſo perchance in other herbs and plants, without any preceding vermiculation, or being turned into little worms firſt. 2. The state of being infested or consumed by worms. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The violent and voyeuristic imagery of the transi tombs, particularly in the horrific detailing of vermiculation, had a ghoulish counterpart in the 'grim coupling', the 'shaking of the sheets' of the danse macabre[…]. Example: The sermon rehearses [John] Donne's phobic obsession with putrefaction, vermiculation, dissolution, and dispersal. 3. A pattern of irregular wavy lines resembling worms or their casts or tracks, found on the plumage of birds, used to decorate artworks and buildings, etc. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 74 ter A.—Scops gymnopodus. Gr. […] [F]eathers of the crown varied with blackish mesial streaks; the cross vermiculations being also rather coarser than on the back, all with concealed tawny buff bases, but very few with any indications of a subterminal buff bar, so that the general appearance of the head is very uniform; […] Example: As a matter of fact its narrow ornate façade presented not a single quiet space that the eyes might rest on after a tiring attempt to follow and codify the arabesques, foliations, and intricate vermiculations of what some disrespectfully dubbed as "near-aissance." 4. Peristalsis (“wave-like contraction of the digestive tract, resembling the movement of a worm”). Labels: countable, dated, uncountable Example: When a patient dies on the fourth, fifth or sixth day, the cause is traumatic peritonitis. Lack of food, sleep and rest, is exhausting, but the poisoning of ferments—exudates and effusions in the peritoneal cavity—determines the fatal issue. Knuckles of intestines become agglutinated and held rigid. The normal and necessary vermiculation is cut off. At an autopsy the folds of the intestines seem glued together, as do the cerebral convolutions in brain fever. From such agglutination there is no relief—no method of cure. The injection of warm water and free manipulation of the bowels with the hand, is the only method of diluting the gluey exudates, and exciting normal vermiculation. Example: Deficiency of vital energy, characterized as "gastrointestinal weakness," is a functional decrease of digestive absorption; i.e., insufficient secretion of peptic fluid, loss of appetite due to decrease of gastrointestinal vermiculation, […]