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.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Larva was borrowed in the mid-17th century from Latin larva, literally “ghost” or “mask,” and at first meant a disembodied spirit or ghost. In the mid-18th century Linnaeus applied it to the active immature form of an insect, producing the modern biological sense.

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.

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