Maggot Definition

măgət
maggots
noun
A wormlike insect larva, as the legless larva of the housefly: often found in decaying matter.
Webster's New World
A despicable person.
American Heritage
An odd notion; whim.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Maggot

Noun

Singular:
maggot
Plural:
maggots

Origin of Maggot

  • From Middle English magot, magotte, probably Anglo-Norman alteration of maddock (“worm", "maggot"), originally a diminutive form of a base represented by Old English maþa (Scots mathe), from common Germanic root *mathon-, from the Proto-Indo-European root *math-, which was used in insect names, equivalent to made +"Ž -ock. Near-cognates include Dutch made, German Made and Swedish mask. The use of maggot to mean a fanciful or whimsical thing derives from the folk belief that a whimsical or crotchety person had maggots in his or her brain.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English magot perhaps alteration of mathek, maddokk perhaps from Old English matha

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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