maggot

English

Etymology

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

• enPR: măg'ət, IPA^(key): /ˈmæɡət/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

maggot (plural maggots)

1. A soft, legless larva of a fly or other dipterous insect, that often eats decomposing organic matter. [from 15th c.]
2. (derogatory) A worthless person. [from 17th c.]

   Drop and give me fifty, maggot.

3. (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.'

4. (slang) A fan of the American metal band Slipknot.

Synonyms

• (soft legless larva): grub

Derived terms

• act the maggot
• antimaggot
• gag a maggot
• maggot cheese
• maggoted
• maggotiness
• maggoting
• maggotish
• maggotless
• maggotlike
• maggotorium
• maggot therapy
• maggoty
• white maggot

 

Related terms

• mawk
• mawkish

Translations

dipterous insect's larva that eats decomposing organic matter

• Arabic: نَغَفَة‎ f (naḡafa)
• Armenian: որդ (hy) (ord)
• Atikamekw: okowew
• Bahnar: hrai
• Belarusian: апа́рыш m (apáryš)
• Brunei Malay: giuk, ulat
• Burmese: လောက် (my) (lauk)
• Catalan: asticot m
• Chepang: पेः
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蛆 (zh) (qū), 蠐 (zh), 蛴 (zh) (qí)

• Cornish: kontronen f
• Czech: larva (cs) f, červ (cs) m
• Danish: maddike
• Dutch: made (nl) f
• Esperanto: muŝido
• Estonian: vagel
• Finnish: toukka (fi), kärpäsentoukka
• French: asticot (fr) m, larve (fr) f (larva)
• Galician: careixa f, sen (gl) m, bichoco m
• Georgian: მატლი (ka) (maṭli)
• German: Made (de) f, Fleischmade f
• Gothic: 𐌼𐌰𐌸𐌰 m (maþa)
• Greek: σκουλήκι (el) n (skoulíki)

  Ancient: εὐλή f (eulḗ)

• Hebrew: רימה‎ (he) f (rima)
• Hungarian: kukac (hu), féreg (hu)
• Indonesian: belatung (id)
• Irish: cruimh f
• Italian: larva (it) f, verme (it) m, baco (it) m
• Japanese: 蛆 (ja) (うじ, uji), ウジ (uji)
• Javanese: sèt (jv)
• Khmer: ដង្កូវ (km) (dɑngkəw)
• Korean: 구더기 (gudeogi)

• Latvian: cirmenis m
• Luxembourgish: Mued m
• Malay: belatung, berenga
• Manchu: ᠶᡝᠶᡝ (yeye)
• Manx: crooag f
• Mi'kmaq: gulpatgij
• Mongolian: өт (mn) (öt), авгалдай (mn) (avgaldaj), хорхой (mn) (horhoj)
• Nahuatl: nacaocuilin
• Navajo: chʼosh
• Norman: magot m (Jersey)
• Norwegian: maddik
• Paiwan: tikay
• Polish: larwa (pl) f, (colloquial) robak (pl) m, czerw (pl) m
• Portuguese: larva (pt) f
• Romanian: larvă (ro), vierme (ro)
• Russian: опа́рыш (ru) m (opáryš), личи́нка (ru) f (ličínka) (larva), червь (ru) m (červʹ) (worm)
• S'gaw Karen: လၢၣ် (lø̀)
• Scottish Gaelic: cnothag f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: лѝчӣнка f

  Roman: lìčīnka (sh) f

• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: cerw m

• Spanish: larva (es) f, cresa f, gusano (es) m, verme (es) m, vierme (es) m (obsolete)
• Sundanese: bilatung (su)
• Swedish: mask (sv) c
• Tagalog: uod
• Thai: หนอน (th) (nɔ̌ɔn)
• Turkish: kurt (tr), kurtçuk (tr)
• Ukrainian: опа́риш m (opáryš)
• Uzbek: qurt (uz), qumursqa (uz)
• Vietnamese: giòi (vi)
• Volapük: mitameit
• Welsh: cynrhonyn m, macai m, maceion m pl, cynrhon m pl

worthless person

• Belarusian: чарвя́к m (čarvják), гні́да f (hnída)
• Czech: červ (cs) m
• Dutch: made (nl) f, worm (nl) m
• Finnish: liero (fi), mato (fi)
• Hungarian: féreg (hu)
• Italian: verme (it) m

• Portuguese: verme (pt) m
• Russian: червь (ru) m (červʹ), гни́да (ru) f (gnída)
• Spanish: gusano (es) m
• Swedish: likmask (sv) c, mask (sv) c
• Ukrainian: черв'я́к m (červʺják), гни́да f (hnýda)

whimsy or fancy

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 空想 (zh) (kōngxiǎng)

• Dutch: gril (nl), kuur (nl), luim (nl)

• Portuguese: capricho (pt) m
• Russian: причу́да (ru) f (pričúda), фанта́зия (ru) f (fantázija), блажь (ru) f (blažʹ)

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.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} senkrura larvo
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} רימה‎ (he)

• Sundanese: ^{(please verify)} bilatung (su)