Larva or lava?
larva is a noun meaning “An early stage of growth for insects and some amphibians, in which after…”; lava is a noun meaning “The molten rock ejected by a volcano from a vent such as a crater or fissure…”. They sound the same (/ˈlɑː.və/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) lava is about 5.5 times as common as larva.
What is the difference between larva and lava?
| larva | lava | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | An early stage of growth for insects and some amphibians, in which after hatching from their egg, insects are wingless and resemble a caterpillar or grub, and… An animal in the aforementioned stage | The molten rock ejected by a volcano from a vent such as a crater or fissure; magma that has breached the surface of the earth A body of lava |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | larvae, larvas | lavas |
| Pronunciation | /ˈlɑː.və/ /ˈlɑɹ.və/ | /ˈlɑːvə/ /ˈlɑvə/ /ˈlɐːvə/ |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words | 5.4 times per million words |
Sources: larva and lava in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of larva and lava
larva
- 1
An early stage of growth for insects and some amphibians, in which after hatching from their egg, insects are wingless and resemble a caterpillar or grub, and amphibians lack limbs and resemble fish
- 2
An animal in the aforementioned stage
- 3
A form of a recently born or hatched animal that is quite different from its adult stage
- 4
A preliminary stage of someone or something, before it has fully matured, especially a time of growth rather than one of performance
lava
- 1
The molten rock ejected by a volcano from a vent such as a crater or fissure; magma that has breached the surface of the earth
- 2
A body of lava
- 3
datedSolidified lava
- 4
informalproscribedMagma
- 5
A shade of red, named after the volcanic lava
- 6
colloquialHot water
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, larva or lava?
larva appears about once in every 1 million words; lava 5.4 times per million words.
larva about once in every 1 million wordslava 5.4 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).