maggot

Origin: From , magat, maked, probably a metathetic alteration of maddock, maðek, originally a diminutive form of a base represented by (), from , from , from the root *mat, which was used in insect names, equivalent to . Near-cognates include , and , . The use of maggot to mean a fanciful or whimsical thing derives from the folk belief that a whimsical or crotchety person had maggots in their brain. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).