Broma
/ˈbroʊ.mə/noun
A shipworm, a marine bivalve mollusk that bores into submerged wood.
Did you know?The name reflects the shipworm’s voracious wood-eating behavior, while the same Greek root survives in bromatology, the scientific study of food.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
βρῶμα (brôma)
“Food or something eaten”
Hellenistic Greek
Greek
βρῶσις (brôsis)
“Eating or consumption, from the same root as brôma”
Medieval Greek
Greek
βρῶμα
“Food; later associated with a wood-eating marine organism”
16th Century
Spanish
broma
“Shipworm, a mollusk that bores into wooden ships”
1590s
English
broma
“A shipworm”
Modern English
English
broma
“A shipworm or teredo mollusk”
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