Skip to content

glowworm

Today it means: The larva or wingless grub-like female of a beetle from the families Phengodidae or Lampyridae that gives out a green light from its abdomen. Full definition →

Middle English glouworm

Ask AI about its historyChatGPT Claude Perplexity Google AI Grok

The story

Middle English · inherited fromglouworm
English todayglowworm

From Middle English glouworm; equivalent to glow + worm. Compare cognate German Glühwurm; compare also firefly, lightning bug, and lanternfly.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.