silkworm

[silk-wurm]

noun

1. the larva of the Chinese silkworm moth, Bombyx mori, which spins a cocoon of commercially valuable silk.

2. the larva of any of several moths of the family Saturniidae, which spins a silken cocoon.

silkworm

/ ˈsɪlkˌwɜːm /

noun

1. the larva of the Chinese moth Bombyx mori, that feeds on the leaves of the mulberry tree: widely cultivated as a source of silk

2. any of various similar or related larvae

3. the moth of any of these larvae

Word History and Origins

Origin of silkworm¹

before 1000; Middle English sylkewyrme, Old English seolcwyrm. See silk, worm

Example Sentences

In Japan grasshoppers, silkworms, and wasps were traditionally eaten in land-locked areas where meat and fish were scarce.

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Legend says the island used to be famous for sericulture and farmers would keep cats because they would chase away rats, protecting the silkworm cocoons from the rodents.

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“One time,” said Mara, “we destroyed a whole city’s economy after all their silkworms died.”

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Addressing this issue, recent research has been published by researchers focusing on a hemostatic agent derived from mussels and silkworm cocoons.

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The other, Siena McKim of the University of California, Santa Barbara, discovered that at least one amphipod species produces this fiber with some of the same genes as silkworms.

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