English

redbug

From red + bug.

A compound of red + bug

Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-

…

Proto-Germanic *raudaz

Proto-West Germanic *raud

Old English rēad

Middle English red ‘red’

English red

Middle English bugge ‘scarecrow, hobgoblin’

English bug

Today it means

noun Any member of the family Pyrrhocoridae of true bugs.

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