Etymology

earwig

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Today it means: Any of various insects of the order Dermaptera that have elongated bodies, large membranous wings folded underneath short leathery forewings and a pair of large pincers protruding from the rear of the abdomen. Full definition →

Middle English erwigge ← Old English ēarwicga
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromēarwicga
  2. Middle English · inherited fromerwigge
  3. English todayearwig

From Middle English erwigge, from Old English ēarwicga, from ēare (“ear”) + wicga (“insect”), so named from the appearance of the hindwings, which are unique in their resemblance to human ears when unfolded. Compare typologically Dutch oorworm, German Ohrwurm, Danish ørentvist; French perce-oreille, Romanian urechelniță; Russian уховёртка (uxovjórtka), Serbo-Croatian uholaža, Slovak ucholak; Lithuanian auslinda (all are cognates via Proto-Indo-European *h₂ows-). Also compare Mongolian чихүүр хорхой (čixüür xorxoi) (<+ чих (čix)), Turkish kulağakaçan (<+ kulak).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.