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Origin and history of weevil

weevil(n.)

Middle English wevel, from Old English wifel "small beetle," from Proto-Germanic *webilaz (source also of Old Saxon wibil, Old High German wibil, German Wiebel "beetle, chafer," Old Norse tordyfill "dung beetle"), cognate with Lithuanian vabalas "beetle," from PIE root *(h)uebh- "to weave," also "to move quickly" (see weave (v.)).

The sense gradually narrowed by 15c. to the long-snouted varieties of beetle that, in larval or adult stages, bore into plants, often destroying them. Related: Wevilly.

Entries linking to weevil

weave(v.1)

Middle English weven, from Old English wefan "practice the craft of weaving; form by interlacing yarn," figuratively "devise, contrive, arrange" (class V strong verb; past tense wæf, past participle wefen), from Proto-Germanic *weban (source also of Old Norse vefa, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Dutch weven, Old High German weban, German weben "to weave").

This is reconstructed to be from PIE root *(h)uebh- "to weave;" also "to move quickly" (source also of Sanskrit ubhnati "he laces together," Persian baftan "to weave," Greek hyphē, hyphos "web," Old English webb "web").

The form of the past tense altered in Middle English from wave to wove. The extended sense of "combine into a whole" is from late 14c.; the meaning "go by twisting and turning" is from 1640s. To weave together "make (two things) one by weaving" is from late 14c. Related: Wove; woven; weaving.

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    Trends of weevil

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    boll
    Boll weevil, which damages cotton bolls, is so called from 1895, American English....compared with this insect, it becomes necessary to discourage in every way the use of the word sharpshooter as applied to this weevil...The adoption of the term 'Mexican cotton-boll weevil' for the new pest is recommended....
    dung
    An Old English word for it was tordwifel "turd weevil."...
    beetle
    insect of the order Coleoptera, Middle English bitil, from Old English bitela "beetle," apparently originally meaning "little biter, biting insect," from bitel "biting," from Proto-Germanic *bitan, from PIE root *bheid- "to split," with derivatives in Germanic referring to biting
    envy
    late 13c., from Old French envie "envy, jealousy, rivalry" (10c.), from Latin invidia "envy, jealousy" (source also of Spanish envidia, Portuguese inveja), from invidus "envious, having hatred or ill-will," from invidere "to envy, hate," earlier "look at (with malice), cast an ev
    sinister
    early 15c., sinistre, "prompted by malice or ill-will; false, dishonest, intending to mislead," with suggestion, report, etc., from Old French senestre, sinistre "contrary, false; unfavorable; to the left" (14c.), from Latin sinister "left, on the left side" (opposite of dexter),
    tuberculosis
    1860, "disease characterized by tubercules," a medical Latin hybrid, from Latin tuberculum "small swelling, pimple," diminutive of tuber "lump" (from PIE root *teue- "to swell") + -osis, a suffix of Greek origin. So called in reference to the tubercules which form in the lungs. O
    oblivion
    late 14c., oblivioun, "state or fact of forgetting, forgetfulness, loss of memory," from Old French oblivion (13c.) and directly from Latin oblivionem (nominative oblivio) "forgetfulness; a being forgotten," from oblivisci (past participle oblitus) "forget," which is of uncertain
    pretty
    Middle English pratie "cunning, crafty, clever" (c. 1300 as a surname), from Old English prættig (West Saxon), pretti (Kentish), *prettig (Mercian) "cunning, skillful, artful, wily, astute," from prætt, *prett "a trick, wile, craft," from Proto-Germanic *pratt- (source also of Ol
    tragedy
    late 14c., "play or other serious literary work with an unhappy ending," from Old French tragedie (14c.), from Latin tragedia "a tragedy," from Greek tragodia "a dramatic poem or play in formal language and having an unhappy resolution," apparently literally "goat song," from tra
    reefer
    "marijuana cigarette," 1920s, perhaps an alteration of Mexican Spanish grifo "marijuana, drug addict" [OED]; or perhaps from reef (v.), on resemblance to a rolled sail. It also meant "pickpocket" in criminal slang (by 1935), and Century Dictionary also has it as "oyster that grow

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    Dictionary entries near weevil
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