Bugs

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /bʌɡz/

Definitions

1. Small crawling or flying insects often considered pests ; errors or flaws in a software program or mechanical device causing it to malfunction
2. Tiny creatures like insects or arachnids that may annoy or harm humans ; unintended mistakes or problems in technology that disrupt proper function
3. Minute living arthropods frequently bothersome to people ; faults or glitches in computer code or machines that prevent normal operation

Etymology: The bug in "bugs" has no single agreed ancestor, and the candidates point in different directions. One line of thought connects it to a Celtic root behind Scots "bogill" ("goblin, bugbear") and obsolete Welsh "bwg" ("ghost, hobgoblin"), so the earliest sense may have been a frightening spirit rather than a creature. Another traces it to a word related to "buck" that originally named a goat-shaped spectre. A third possibility is an Old Norse-leaning word for something that swells, linked to Norwegian "bugge" ("big man"). The insect sense is first recorded around 1620, when "bugge" referred to a bedbug. Because it sounded like other short words for small creatures, the spectre and the insect may have blurred together, though the sources do not prove a deliberate merger, and the two may have run in parallel for a long time. The technical sense is older than many people assume. Writers were using it for mechanical faults and errors at least as early as the 19th century, well before the computing stories most readers know. The same short word thus covers a pest in the bed and a fault in the machine.

Synonyms: insects, pests, vermin

Antonyms: beneficials