Etymology

hagworm

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Today it means: A common snake, such as an adder or a viper. Full definition →

Middle English hagworme ← Old Norse hǫggormr
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The story

  1. Old Norse · derived fromhǫggormr“serpent”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromhagworme“viper”
  3. English todayhagworm

Inherited from Middle English hagworme (“viper”), from Old Norse hǫggormr (“serpent”), from hǫgg (“stroke, blow”) + ormr (“worm, snake”). Cognate with Icelandic höggormur (“poisonous snake, serpent”), Swedish huggorm (“adder, viper”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.