Etymology

rainworm

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Today it means: An earthworm. Full definition →

Middle English [Term?] ← Old English reġnwyrm ← Proto-Germanic [Term?]
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from[Term?]
  2. Old English · inherited fromreġnwyrm
  3. Middle English · inherited from[Term?]
  4. English todayrainworm

From Middle English [Term?], from Old English reġnwyrm, from Proto-Germanic [Term?]. Analysable as rain + worm, because the worm has the habit of surfacing on top of the saturated soil after rainfall. Cognate with Dutch regenworm, Old High German reganwurm, whence German Regenwurm.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.