bug | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

52 entries found.

"infested with bugs," 1714, from bug (n.) + -y (2).

also fire-bug, "arsonist, incendiary," 1869, from fire (n.) + bug (n.) in the "obsessed person" sense.

"something that causes terror," especially needless terror, 1580s, a sort of demon in the form of a bear that eats small children, also "object of dread" (whether real or not), from obsolete bug "goblin, scarecrow" (see bug (n.)) + bear (n.).

boggart (n.)

also boggard, specter, goblin, sprite," especially one supposed to haunt a particular spot, 1560s; see bug (n.).

litterbug (n.)

1947, from litter + bug (n.). According to Mario Pei ("The Story of Language," Lippincott, 1949) "coined by the New York subways on the analogy of 'jitterbug' ...."

pillbug (n.)

also pill-bug, kind of wood-louse or other insect-like crustacean which can roll itself into a ball like a pill, 1841, from pill (n.) + bug (n.).

debug (v.)

"remove the faults from," 1945, of machine systems, from de- + bug (n.) "glitch, defect in a machine." Meaning "to remove a concealed microphone" is from 1964. Related: Debugged; debugging.

bugaboo (n.)

"something to frighten a child, fancied object of terror," 1843, earlier buggybow (1740), probably an alteration of bugbear (also see bug (n.)), but connected by Chapman ["Dictionary of American Slang"] with Bugibu, demon in the Old French poem "Aliscans" from 1141, which is perhaps of Celtic origin (compare Cornish bucca-boo, from bucca "bogle, goblin").

jitterbug (n.)

popular type of fast swing dance, 1938, American English, from "Jitter Bug," title of a song recorded by Cab Calloway in 1934. Probably the literal sense is "one who has the jitters" (see jitters; for second element see bug (n.) in the slang "person obsessed with" sense). Another sense current about this time was "swing music enthusiast" (1937). As a verb from 1938.

ladybug (n.)

also lady-bug, 1690s, from lady + bug (n.). The "lady" is the Virgin Mary (compare German cognate Marienkäfer). In Britain, usually ladybird or lady-bird (1670s), supposedly through aversion to the word bug due to overtones of sodomy, however this seems to be the older form of the word. Also known 17c.-18c. as lady-cow or lady-fly.

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