larva
/ˈlɑɹ.və/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.99 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An early stage of growth for insects and some amphibians, in which after hatching from their egg, insects are wingless and resemble a caterpillar or grub, and amphibians lack limbs and resemble fish.
noun
An animal in the aforementioned stage.
noun
A preliminary stage of someone or something, before it has fully matured, especially a time of growth rather than one of performance.
Example Sentences
- "The habits of the second nymphal stage are likewise similar to those of the larva stage."
- "Several possible explanations are advanced for a large decrease in numbers between the egg and larva stage, namely, drift of larvae from the sampling station, escape through the meshes of the net, sinking below the surface layers, and loss from mortality. A seasonally erratic egg to larva ratio is pointed out."
- "The young larva bores into the tissue of a tobacco leaf, usually near the place where it has emerged from the egg, in cases where the egg was laid on a leaf, and mines into the leaf."
- "What does a mountain newt larva eat?"
- "In water of 5-6° C, herring hatch in about 22 days, at 11-12° C in 8–10 days. The newly hatched larva is about 6–8 mm long and at first depends on the food reserves of the yolk-sac."
- "Breeding females of both the Lophogastrida and Mysida carry their embryos and larvae in a marsupium, within which their entire embryonic and larval development takes place."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: larva
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈlɑɹ.və/
- British English: /ˈlɑː.və/
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
mosquito larva