Vermicule

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tiny, slender organism or anatomical part resembling a worm in shape or form
2. A small thread-like or tubular thing that looks like a diminutive worm
3. A minute worm-shaped object or living structure, especially as found in organisms or ecosystems

Etymology: "Vermicule" is a small worm, or in a looser sense a grub or tiny creeping creature, and it arrived in English straight from Latin "vermiculus", a diminutive of "vermis", meaning "worm." The Latin diminutive ending shrinks the base noun, so the word literally means "little worm," which is why the English term carries that sense of something tiny and wriggling. The surprising kinship is with "vermeil," a word that has nothing to do with worms at all. Both descend from the same Latin root, but they took different routes into English and drifted apart: "vermeil" came to name a bright, rich red, often gilt-tinted, and "vermicule" stayed attached to the creature. Words that share a source but split into separate forms in this way are called doublets, and this pair shows how a single Latin stem can yield a colour and a creature.

Synonyms: vermiculus, small worm