earthworm 的词源

大约在公元1400年，erþe-worme成为了家族Lumbricidae（蚯蚓科）中蚯蚓的流行名称，它的构成来自earth（土壤）+ worm（虫子）。在古英语中，这种意义的表达有eorðmata，还有regnwyrm，字面意思是“雨虫”。古英语中还存在angel-twæcce，意为“用作饵料的蚯蚓”（第二部分源自twitch的词根），在中世纪时有时被用作药物：

For the blake Jawndes take angylltwacches, er þei go in to the erth in the mornynge and fry hem. Take ix or x small angyltwacches, and bray hem, and giff the syke to drynke fastynge, with stale ale, but loke þat thei bene grounden so small that þe syke may nat se, ne witt what it is, for lothynge. [Book of Medical Recipes in Medical Society of London Library, c. 1450]

对于黑黄疸病，取angylltwacches，在早晨它们入土前捕捉并煎炸。取九或十条小angyltwacches，捣碎后让病人空腹饮用，配以陈酿啤酒，但要确保它们被捣得足够细，以免病人看见或识别出是什么，从而感到恶心。[《伦敦医学学会医学食谱》，约1450年]

The people who inhabit the highlands of Southern Brazil have a firm belief in the existence of a gigantic earthworm fifty yards or more in length, five in breadth, covered with bones as with a coat-of-mail, and of such strength as to be able to uproot great pine-trees as though they were blades of grass, and to throw up such quantities of clay in making its way underground as to dam up streams and divert them into new courses. This redoubtable monster is known as the "Minhocao." [Popular Science, August 1878]

生活在巴西南部高地的人们坚信，那里存在一种巨大的蚯蚓，长度超过五十码，宽度约五码，像盔甲一样覆盖着骨头，力量之大足以将巨大的松树连根拔起，仿佛它们只是草茎，并且在地下移动时能挖出大量泥土，堵塞溪流并将其引向新的方向。这种可怕的怪物被称为“Minhocao”。[《科学普及》，1878年8月]