mealworm
/ˈmiːlˌwɜː(ɹ)m/noun
mealworm is spelled M-E-A-L-W-O-R-M: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 30 million words in written English, the 165,739th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mealworm means “The larval stage of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor), a species of darkling beetle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mealworm is mealworms.
How many letters and syllables are in mealworm?
| Letters | 8: M-E-A-L-W-O-R-M |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 30 million words; the 165,739th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is mealworm?
Mealworm appears about once in every 30 million words in written English, the 165,739th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mealworm?
- /ˈmiːlˌwɜː(ɹ)m/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of mealworm
- mealworms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mealworm mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The larval stage of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor), a species of darkling beetle.
We buy mealworms to supplement our chickens' feed ration, and they do some scratching in the yard to find other bugs too.
- 2
informalThis or any other larva that looks similar and is found in similar circumstances (i.e., in meal, in flour, in food, in the pantry, in feed, in the feedroom), such as the larva of a mealmoth (flour moth).
Near-synonym: waxworm
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mealworm in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense larva of the Tenebrio molitor:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ver de farine |
| Portuguese | larva-da-farinha, tenébrio |
| Spanish | gusano de la harina |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does mealworm come from?
From meal + worm.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).