verminate

American  

[vur-muh-neyt] / ˈvɜr məˌneɪt /

verb (used without object)

verminated, verminating

1. to become infested with vermin, especially parasitic vermin.

2. Archaic.  to breed or infest with vermin.

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Other Word Forms

• vermination noun

Etymology

Origin of verminate

1685–95; < Latin verminātus, past participle of vermināre to be infested with maggots, to have racking pains, equivalent to vermin ( a ) racking pain + -ātus -ate ¹; dual sense of vermināre by association with vermis worm, maggot, vermin- being taken, perhaps erroneously, as an extended stem of this word