vermin
pronunciation
How to pronounce vermin in British English:
UK [ˈvɜ:mɪn]
How to pronounce vermin in American English:
US [ˈvɜrmɪn]
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- Noun:
- an irritating or obnoxious person
- any of various small animals or insects that are pests; e.g. cockroaches or rats
Word Origin
- vermin
- vermin: [13] Vermin comes via Old French vermin from Vulgar Latin *vermīnum ‘noxious animals’, a derivative of Latin vermis ‘worm’. This came ultimately from Indo-European *wrmi-, which also produced English worm, and among the other contributions it has made to English are vermicelli [17] (from an Italian diminutive meaning ‘little worms’), vermicular [17], vermiculite [19] (so called because when heated it produces wormlike projections), vermifuge [17], and vermilion.=> vermicelli, vermilion, worm
- vermin (n.)
- c. 1300, "noxious animals," from Anglo-French and Old French vermin "moth, worm, mite," in plural "troublesome creatures" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *verminum "vermin," possibly including bothersome insects, collective noun formed from Latin vermis "worm" (see worm (n.)). Extended to "low, obnoxious people" by 1560s.
Example
- 1. Flies and vermin swarmed the washrooms .
- 2. Are indian lives considered so cheap that even the people of bhopal , who are owed so much , can be treated like vermin ?
- 3. So , the drill : first I grab my shoes , checking for spiders , scorpions or other poisonous vermin that might have climbed in .
- 4. Air quality , dust , litter , odours and vermin are strictly controlled too .
- 5. Their ancestors were bred to hunt and kill vermin .