# maggot

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmæɡət/ · frequency rank #38,029

## Definitions
1. A soft, legless larva of a fly or other dipteran insect, that often eats decomposing organic matter.
2. A worthless person.
3. A whimsy or fancy.
4. A fan of the American metal band Slipknot.
5. Alternative form of MAGAt.

## Etymology
From Middle English magot, magat, maked, probably a metathetic alteration of maddock, maðek (“worm", "maggot”), originally a diminutive form of a base represented by Old English maþa (Scots mathe), from Proto-West Germanic *maþō, from Proto-Germanic *maþô, from the Proto-Indo-European root *mat, which was used in insect names, equivalent to made + -ock. Near-cognates include Dutch made, German Made and Swedish mask, Icelandic maðkur (“worm, grub, maggot”).
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.

## Easily confused with
- **mango** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maggot-vs-mango)
- **Margo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maggot-vs-margo)
- **magnet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maggot-vs-magnet)
- **mascot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maggot-vs-mascot)
- **Margot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maggot-vs-margot)
- **maggots** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maggot-vs-maggots)
- **Maggie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maggie-vs-maggot)

## Common misspellings (7)
`amggot`, `maggott`, `maggto`, `magogt`, `magot`, `mgagot`, `mmaggot`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/maggot