maggot

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*maþô
2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*maþō
3. Middle English · inherited frommagot
4. English todaymaggot

From Middle English magot, magat, maked, probably a metathetic alteration of maddock, maðek (“worm", "maggot”), originally a diminutive form of a base represented by Old English maþa (Scots mathe), from Proto-West Germanic *maþō, from Proto-Germanic *maþô, from the Proto-Indo-European root *mat, which was used in insect names, equivalent to made + -ock. Near-cognates include Dutch made, German Made and Swedish mask, Icelandic maðkur (“worm, grub, maggot”). The use of maggot to mean a fanciful or whimsical thing derives from the folk belief that a whimsical or crotchety person had maggots in their brain.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 15th c. A soft, legless larva of a fly or other dipteran insect, that often eats decomposing organic matter.
• from 17th c. A worthless, obnoxious or contemptible person.
• from 17th c. A whimsy or fancy.