/lahr"veuh/ , n. , pl. larvae /-vee/ .
1. Entomol. the immature, wingless, feeding stage of an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis. See illus. under metamorphosis .
2. any animal in an analogous immature form.
3. the young of any invertebrate animal.
4. larvae , Rom. Antiq. malignant ghosts, as lemures.
[ 1645-55; larva a ghost, specter, mask, skeleton; akin to LARES ]