maggot
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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 Proto-Germanic *maþô, from the Proto-Indo-European root *mat, 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. [from 15th c.]
- (derogatory) A worthless person. [from 17th c.]
- Drop and give me fifty, maggot.
- (now archaic, regional) A whimsy or fancy. [from 17th c.]
- 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?
- 1778, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin 2001, p. 100:
- ‘I am ashamed of him! how can he think of humouring you in such maggots!’
- 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
- […] If you draw, Sir, there's one prospect up the river, by the mills—upon my conscience—but you don't draw?'
No answer.
'A little, Sir, maybe? Just for a maggot, I'll wager—like my good lady, Mrs. Toole.'
- 1620, John Fletcher, Women Pleased, III.iv.
- (slang) A fan of the American metal band Slipknot.
Synonyms[edit]
- (soft legless larva): grub
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
dipterous insect's larva that eats decomposing organic matter
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worthless person
whimsy or fancy
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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- en:Baby animals
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