Larvas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The immature form of various insects, especially while in a stage of development before transformation into adult form
2. A stage in the life cycle of an organism, typically aquatic, which undergoes significant change to reach maturity
3. A developmental phase marked by growth and food consumption, often taking place in a different habitat from the adult form

Etymology: "Larvas" is simply the plural of "larva", the form used for the immature stage of an insect that hatches from an egg and looks nothing like the adult it will become. The singular comes from Latin "larva", which meant "disembodied spirit, ghost, goblin", so the wriggling grub gets its name from a spectre. The link is one of appearance and metaphor. A larva is a mask or disguise, a sense the Latin word carried too, and the naturalists who borrowed it saw the young insect as a form hiding what it would become. The insect's adult shape was, in effect, concealed inside the grub, much as a ghost was thought to be a hidden presence behind the living.

Synonyms: larvae