Standard Lemma guide

larva

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈlɑː.və/
  • General-American: /ˈlɑɹ.və/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)və
  • homophone: lava (non-rhotic)
  • CMU ARPABET: L AA1 R V AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An early stage of growth for some insects and amphibians, in which after hatching from their egg, insects are wingless and resemble a caterpillar or grub, and amphibians lack limbs and resemble fish.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An animal in the aforementioned stage.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A form of a recently born or hatched animal that is quite different from its adult stage.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A preliminary stage of someone or something, before it has fully matured, especially a time of growth rather than one of performance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

the immature free-living form of most invertebrates and amphibians and fish which at hatching from the egg is fundamentally unlike its parent and must metamorphose

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: animal, animate being, beast, brute, creature, fauna

Narrower terms: ascidian tadpole, bladder worm, cercaria, wireworm, mealworm, wiggler, wriggler, strawworm, jointworm, doodlebug, ant lion, antlion, aphid lion, aphis lion, hellgrammiate, dobson, caseworm, caterpillar, nymph, leptocephalus, bot, grub, tadpole, polliwog, pollywog

History

Etymology

From Latin larva (“disembodied spirit, ghost, goblin”).

Across languages

Translations

146 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: larvë — a stage of growth
  • Arabic: يَرَقَة (yaraqa) — a stage of growth
  • Armenian: թրթուր (tʻrtʻur) — a stage of growth
  • Azerbaijani: larva — a stage of growth
  • Belarusian: лічы́нка (ličýnka) — a stage of growth
  • Bengali: লার্ভা (larbha) — a stage of growth
  • Bulgarian: ла́рва (lárva) — a stage of growth
  • Bulgarian: личи́нка (ličínka) — a stage of growth
  • Burmese: ပိုးလောင်း (pui:laung:) — a stage of growth
  • Catalan: larva — a stage of growth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 幼蟲 /幼虫 (yòuchóng) — a stage of growth
  • Czech: larva — a stage of growth
  • Danish: larve — a stage of growth
  • Dutch: larve — a stage of growth
  • Dutch: larvestadium — a stage of growth
  • Estonian: vastne — a stage of growth
  • Estonian: vastsejärk — a stage of growth
  • Finnish: toukka — a stage of growth
  • Finnish: toukka-aste — a stage of growth
  • Finnish: toukkavaihe — a stage of growth
  • French: larve — a stage of growth
  • Galician: larva — a stage of growth
  • Georgian: ლარვა (larva) — a stage of growth
  • German: Larve — a stage of growth
  • Greek: προνύμφη (pronýmfi) — a stage of growth
  • Hebrew: פַּגִּית (pagít) — a stage of growth
  • Hebrew: לרווה (lárva) — a stage of growth
  • Hebrew: זחל (zákhal) — a stage of growth
  • Hindi: डिंभ (ḍimbh) — a stage of growth
  • Hindi: लार्वा (lārvā) — a stage of growth
  • Hungarian: lárva — a stage of growth
  • Icelandic: lirfa — a stage of growth
  • Ingrian: toukka — a stage of growth
  • Japanese: 幼虫 (yōchū) — a stage of growth
  • Kazakh: балаңқұрт (balañqūrt) — a stage of growth
  • Kazakh: дернәсіл (dernäsıl) — a stage of growth
  • Korean: 유충 (yuchung) — a stage of growth
  • Kyrgyz: личинка (licinka) — a stage of growth
  • Latvian: kāpurs — a stage of growth
  • Lithuanian: lerva — a stage of growth
  • Macedonian: ларва (larva) — a stage of growth
  • Malay: larva — a stage of growth
  • Malayalam: ലാർവ (lāṟva) — a stage of growth
  • Māori: torongū — a stage of growth
  • Norwegian Bokmål: larve — a stage of growth
  • Persian: لارو (lârv) — a stage of growth
  • Persian: شفیره (šafīre) — a stage of growth
  • Polish: larwa — a stage of growth
  • Portuguese: larva — a stage of growth
  • Punjabi: ਡਿੰਭ (ḍimbh) — a stage of growth
  • Punjabi: ਲਾਰਵਾ (lārvā) — a stage of growth
  • Romanian: larvă — a stage of growth
  • Russian: личи́нка (ličínka) — a stage of growth
  • Serbo-Croatian: лѝчӣнка — a stage of growth
  • Serbo-Croatian: ла̑рва — a stage of growth
  • Serbo-Croatian: lìčīnka — a stage of growth
  • Serbo-Croatian: lȃrva — a stage of growth
  • Slovak: larva — a stage of growth
  • Slovene: ličinka — a stage of growth
  • Southern Altai: јылдыс курт (ǰïldïs kurt) — a stage of growth
  • Spanish: larva — a stage of growth
  • Swedish: larv — a stage of growth
  • Swedish: larvstadie — a stage of growth
  • Swedish: larvstadium — a stage of growth
  • Tajik: личинка (ličinka) — a stage of growth
  • Thai: ตัวอ่อน (dtuua-ɔ̀ɔn) — a stage of growth
  • Turkish: larva — a stage of growth
  • Turkish: kurtçuk — a stage of growth
  • Turkmen: liçinka — a stage of growth
  • Ukrainian: личи́нка (lyčýnka) — a stage of growth
  • Urdu: لاروا (lārvā) — a stage of growth
  • Uyghur: لېچىنكا (lëchinka) — a stage of growth
  • Uzbek: lichinka — a stage of growth
  • Vietnamese: ấu trùng — a stage of growth
  • Volapük: larvat — a stage of growth
  • Welsh: larfa — a stage of growth
  • Armenian: թրթուր (tʻrtʻur) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Azerbaijani: sürfə — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Bashkir: ҡарышлауыҡ (qarışlawıq) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Belarusian: лічы́нка (ličýnka) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Bulgarian: личи́нка (ličínka) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Catalan: larva — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Chinese Mandarin: 幼蟲 /幼虫 (yòuchóng) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Crimean Tatar: qurtçıq — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Czech: larva — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Danish: larve — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Dutch: larve — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Estonian: vastne — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Estonian: kulles — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Estonian: maim — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Estonian: tõuk — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Estonian: vagel — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Estonian: röövik — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Estonian: ebaröövik — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Estonian: konu — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Finnish: toukka — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • French: larve — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Galician: larva — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • German: Larve — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Greek: προνύμφη (pronýmfi) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Hebrew: פגית (pagít) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Higaonon: olod — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Icelandic: lirfa — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Indonesian: jentik — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Japanese: 幼虫 (yōchū) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Khmer: ដង្កូវ (dɑɑdɑngkəw) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Khmer: ឌិម្ភា (dimphiə) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Korean: 유충 (yuchung) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Lao: ຫນອນ (nǭn) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Lao: ດ້ວງ (dūang) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Latin: larva — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Latvian: kāpurs — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Macedonian: ларва (larva) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Malayalam: ലാർവ (lāṟva) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Māori: torongū — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Mongolian: авгалдай (avgaldaj) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Norwegian Bokmål: larve — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: larve — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Persian: لارو (lârv) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Polish: larwa — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Portuguese: larva — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Romanian: larvă — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Russian: личи́нка (ličínka) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Serbo-Croatian: лѝчӣнка — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Serbo-Croatian: ла̑рва — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Serbo-Croatian: lìčīnka — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Serbo-Croatian: lȃrva — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Slovak: larva — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Slovene: ličinka — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Spanish: larva — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Swahili: lava — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Swahili: bombwe — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Swedish: larv — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Tajik: кирм (kirm) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Tajik: кирмак (kirmak) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Tatar: корт (qort) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Thai: หนอน (nɔ̌ɔn) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Turkish: kurtçuk — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Turkmen: gurçuk — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Ukrainian: личи́нка (lyčýnka) — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Vietnamese: ấu trùng — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Volapük: larvat — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Volapük: hilarvat — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Volapük: jilarvat — an animal in such stage of growth — see also tadpole
  • Japanese: 幼生 (yōsei) — recently born or hatched
  • Russian: личи́нка (ličínka) — recently born or hatched