Bookworm

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbʊk.wɜːm/

Definitions

1. A person who enjoys reading books extensively and frequently
2. Someone who devotes much time to reading and values books highly
3. An individual known for consistently engaging in reading as a favorite activity

Etymology: The image behind "bookworm" is literal: a worm that eats its way through books. The insect in question is the larva of a beetle or moth, which tunnels through paper and bindings, and English speakers were using the term for these pests long before they applied it to people. The figurative sense, a person who reads voraciously and burrows deep into text, grew out of that image, with the reader cast as the creature chewing through pages. The compound is plain and transparent: "book" plus "worm," the latter in its old sense of any small creeping grub or larva. Other European languages built the same metaphor independently, which is why the Dutch "boekworm," German "Bücherwurm," and Icelandic "bókaormur" all describe the same reader. The shared image suggests how natural it seemed to compare a devoted scholar with an insect that devours its food from the inside.

Synonyms: reader, bibliophile

Antonyms: non-reader