WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
lar•val
(lär′vəl),USA pronunciation adj. Also, lar•vate
(lär′vāt).USA pronunciation (of a disease) masked;
not clearly defined.
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025- Insectsof, pertaining to, or in the form of a larva.
not clearly defined.
- Latin larvālis. See larva, -al1
- 1650–60
lar•va /ˈlɑrvə/USA pronunciation
n. [countable], pl. -vae /-vi/.USA pronunciation
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- Insectsthe immature, wingless stage of an insect in which it resembles a short worm.
- Zoologythe young of an animal without a backbone.
lar•va
(lär′və),USA pronunciation n., pl. -vae (-vē).USA pronunciation
- Insects[Entomol.]the immature, wingless, feeding stage of an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis. See illus. under metamorphosis.
- Zoologyany animal in an analogous immature form.
- Zoologythe young of any invertebrate animal.
- Mythology larvae, [Rom. Antiq.]malignant ghosts, as lemures.
- Neo-Latin; special use of Latin larva a ghost, specter, mask, skeleton; akin to Lares
- 1645–55
'larval' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
alfalfa weevil
- ammocete
- amphibiotic
- ascidian
- asparagus beetle
- axolotl
- cirriped
- complete metamorphosis
- cysticercosis
- cysticercus
- dissogeny
- dun fly
- endostyle
- hemichordate
- hydatid
- lygaeid
- mayfly
- megalops
- metagnathous
- mudpuppy
- nauplius
- neoteny
- parasitoid
- parasitoidism
- pedomorphism
- plerocercoid
- prepupa
- procercoid
- pyralid
- redia
- spat
- stage
- swimmer's itch
- tapeworm
- tunicate
- veliger