Word.ws English Dictionary

glowworm

glowworm noun: the larva or wingless grub-like female of a beetle from the families Phengodidae or Lampyridae that gives out a green light from its abdomen.

glowworm: the larva or wingless grub-like female of a beetle from the families Phengodidae or Lampyridae that...
Image: Timo Newton-Syms, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

glowworm (plural glowworms)

  1. The larva or wingless grub-like female of a beetle from the families Phengodidae or Lampyridae that gives out a green light from its abdomen.
    • The glowworm shows the matin to be near
      And ’gins to pale his uneffectual fire.
      Adieu, adieu, adieu! Remember me.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
    • Some things afarre doe like the Glow-worme shine,
      That lookt to neere haue of that light no signe.1604, William Alexander, The Alexandraean Tragedie, Act V, Scene 2, in The Monarchicke Tragedies, London: Ed. Blount, 1607
  2. (Australia, New Zealand) A carnivorous gnat larva in the keroplatid genus Arachnocampa that spins threads to capture insects attracted by its glow.

glowworm meaning in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Gujarati

glowworm in Tamil

beetle larva or female
மின்மினி miṉmiṉi, மின்மினிப் பூச்சி miṉmiṉip pūcci, கண்ணாம் பூச்சி kaṇṇām pūcci, கீடமணி kīṭamaṇi, அலத்தி alatti, ஞலவல் ñalaval

glowworm in Telugu

beetle larva or female
మిణుగురుపురుగు miṇugurupurugu

glowworm in Malayalam

beetle larva or female
മിന്നാമിനുങ്ങ് minnāminuṅṅŭ

glowworm in Gujarati

glowworm
આગિયો āgiyo
More languagesFewer languages
glowworm in Arabic
يَرَاع yarāʕ, حَبَاحِب ḥabāḥib
glowworm in Vietnamese
đom đóm

Forms of glowworm

pluralglowworms
alternative formglow-worm

Origin of glowworm

From Middle English glouworm; equivalent to glow + worm. Compare cognate German Glühwurm; compare also firefly, lightning bug, and lanternfly.

Words formed from glowworm

Questions about glowworm

What does glowworm mean?
Glowworm means the larva or wingless grub-like female of a beetle from the families Phengodidae or Lampyridae that gives out a green light from its abdomen.
What is glowworm in Tamil?
Glowworm in Tamil is மின்மினி (miṉmiṉi), மின்மினிப் பூச்சி (miṉmiṉip pūcci), கண்ணாம் பூச்சி (kaṇṇām pūcci). See Glowworm meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is glowworm?
Glowworm is a noun.
What is the plural of glowworm?
The plural of glowworm is glowworms.

Words near glowworm in the dictionary

  1. glowstone
  2. glowstones
  3. glowup
  4. glowups
  5. glowvine
  6. glowworm
  7. glowworms
  8. glowy
  9. gloxazone
  10. gloximonam
  11. gloxinia

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: glowworm (page history and authors); આગિયો (Gujarati) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-glowworm.wav.

Cite this entry: “glowworm.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/glowworm. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.