overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

larva.

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.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈlɑː.və/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlɑɹ.və/General-American
  1. 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.

  2. An animal in the aforementioned stage.

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

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

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

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

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

larva has 5 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

larva studiolarva workshello, larva

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.