Seolcwyrm

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An Old English word for the caterpillar that spins silk, the silkworm
2. The larva of a moth whose cocoon yields silk, as named in Old English
3. A silk-spinning caterpillar, recorded in Anglo-Saxon texts as a term for the silk moth's larva

Etymology: Old English speakers had several words for the snail, and this one was a compound: "seolc," meaning snail, plus "wyrm," meaning worm. The second part did not mean only a creeping worm. In Old English, "wyrm" covered worms, serpents, and even dragons, and it is related to German "Wurm" and Latin "vermis." So the compound pictured a slow, slimy creature as a kind of worm. The word survives only in a handful of Old English texts, mostly glossaries that matched Latin terms to native English ones, which is why it is rare. The everyday word for snail was "snægl," which became modern "snail," and "seolcwyrm" dropped out of use without a trace in later English.