The story
- Latin · derived fromvermis“worm”
- English todayvermifuge
Attested since about 1720, from Latin vermis (“worm”) + fugāre (“to cause to flee”). Compare -fuge.
Words from the same roots
Latinvermis all →
verminvarmintvermicellivermisvermiformvermetusvermi-vermicidevermiciousvermifugalvermiparousvermiphobiavermisol
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.