Wormy
/ˈwɜːrmi/noun
Covered with, resembling, or caused by worms.
Did you know?Wormy is built from Old English wyrm, a word that could mean both “worm” and “serpent/dragon,” so the root carries an ancient creepy-crawly-to-monster shift.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
wyrm
“a worm, serpent, or dragon”
Old English
OE
-ig
“a suffix meaning “having the quality of””
Middle English
ME
wormi
“full of worms; worm-infested”
Early Modern English
English
wormy
“infested with worms; worm-like”
Modern English
English
wormy
“covered with or resembling worms”