English

glowworm

Glowworm comes from Middle English glouworm.

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

Earliest quotation: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “The glowworm shows the matin to be near And…”

A compound of glow + worm

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰleh₁- ‘to shine, glow’

Middle English glouen

English glow

Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis

Proto-Germanic *wurmiz

Proto-West Germanic *wurmi

Old English weorm

Middle English werm

English worm

Every English word from Middle English glouworm

noun The larva or wingless grub-like female of a beetle from the families Phengodidae or Lampyridae that gives out a green light from its abdomen.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.