English Explanatory Dictionary

larva

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An early stage of growth for some insects and amphibians, in which after hatching from their egg, insects are wingless and resemble a caterpillar or grub, and amphibians lack limbs and resemble fish.
  2. An animal in the aforementioned stage.
  3. A form of a recently born or hatched animal that is quite different from its adult stage.
  4. A preliminary stage of someone or something, before it has fully matured, especially a time of growth rather than one of performance.

Pronunciation

/ˈlɑː.və/ /ˈlɑɹ.və/ en-us-larva.ogg

Word forms

larva larvae larvas larvæ

Etymology

From Latin larva (“disembodied spirit, ghost, goblin”).

Synonyms

larva

Related words

insect

Derived words

larvacide larvaesque larvagenesis larval larvaless larvalike larvicide larviform larviparous larvivorous mosquito larva paralarva postlarva prolarva

Translations

Armenian: թրթուր Azerbaijani: sürfə Bashkir: ҡарышлауыҡ Belarusian: лічы́нка Bulgarian: личи́нка Catalan: larva Chinese Mandarin: 幼蟲 /幼虫 Crimean Tatar: qurtçıq Czech: larva Danish: larve Dutch: larve Estonian: vastne Estonian: kulles Estonian: maim Estonian: tõuk Estonian: vagel Estonian: röövik Estonian: ebaröövik Estonian: konu Finnish: toukka French: larve Galician: larva German: Larve Greek: προνύμφη Hebrew: פגית Higaonon: olod Icelandic: lirfa Indonesian: jentik Japanese: 幼虫 Khmer: ដង្កូវ Khmer: ឌិម្ភា Korean: 유충 Lao: ຫນອນ Lao: ດ້ວງ Latin: larva Latvian: kāpurs Macedonian: ларва Malayalam: ലാർവ Māori: torongū Mongolian: авгалдай Norwegian Bokmål: larve Norwegian Nynorsk: larve Persian: لارو Polish: larwa Portuguese: larva Romanian: larvă Russian: личи́нка Serbo-Croatian: лѝчӣнка Serbo-Croatian: ла̑рва Serbo-Croatian: lìčīnka Serbo-Croatian: lȃrva Slovak: larva
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