maggot
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle English magot, magotte, probably Anglo-Norman alteration of maddock (“worm", "maggot”), originally a diminutive form of a base represented by Old English maþa (Scots mathe), from common Germanic root *mathon-, from the Proto-Indo-European root *math-, which was used in insect names, equivalent to made + -ock. Near-cognates include Dutch made, German Made and Swedish mask. The use of maggot to mean a fanciful or whimsical thing derives from the folk belief that a whimsical or crotchety person had maggots in his or her brain.
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
maggot (plural maggots)
- A soft, legless larva of a fly or other dipterous insect, that often eats decomposing organic matter.
- A term of insult for a 'worthless' person, as if a bug.
- Drop and give me fifty, maggot.
- (obsolete) A whimsy or fancy.
- Mr. Beveridge's Maggot, an old country dance [1].
- 1620, John Fletcher, Women Pleased, III.iv.
- Are you not mad, my friend? What time o' th' moon is't? / Have not you maggots in your brain?
Synonyms [edit]
- (soft legless larva): grub
Derived terms [edit]
terms derived from maggot (noun)
Related terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
dipterous insect's larva that eats decomposing flesh
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worthless person
whimsy or fancy
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