larva

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an immature form of an insect, amphibian, or other animal, usually very different from the adult

   The butterfly begins life as a larva before forming a pupa.

2. 2
   noun

   an early undeveloped stage of a person, idea, or thing

   The movement was still in its larva stage.

From Latin larva, "ghost, mask, apparition." Scientific Latin later applied it to a masked or hidden immature form, especially an insect stage unlike the adult.

Topics