ˈlärvə, ˈlȧvə noun
( plural lar·vae -(ˌ)vē, -ˌvī ; also larvas )
Etymology: Latin, evil spirit, specter, mask; akin to Latin lar tutelary god, lar and perhaps to Latin lascivus wanton — more at lust
1.
a. obsolete : a disembodied spirit : ghost
b. : an ancient Roman specter or apparition ; especially : a malevolent spirit
c. : a supernatural monster — used chiefly in medieval occultism
2.
[New Latin, from Latin]
a. : the immature, wingless, and often vermiform feeding form that hatches from the egg of a holometabolous insect, increases in size, undergoes other minor changes while passing through several molts, and is finally transformed into a pupa or chrysalis from which the adult ultimately emerges — see caterpillar , grub , maggot
b. : nymph 3
c. : the early form of any animal that at birth or hatching is fundamentally unlike its parent and must pass through more or less of a metamorphosis before assuming the adult characters — used of later states than embryo