† verˈmiculus Obs.
Pl. vermiculi.
[L., dim. of vermis worm. Cf. vermicule.]
1. A small worm or grub; a vermicule.
| 1694 W. Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 12 All the Vermiculi, or Miasmata, which are the Progenerators of the Plague, or Pestilence. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Vermes, Some Authors assert,..that this Spolium is not animated, but receives its Sense and Motion from Vermiculi, or Cucurbitini inclosed in it. Ibid. s.v. Vermicular. |
2. A species of marine annelid; a sea-worm.
| a 1728 Woodward Fossils (1729) I. ii. 22 A Vermiculus growing to a Piece of a Pinna Marina. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., These shells are called vermiculi,..from the fish contained in them, which is always a sort of worm. 1776 Da Costa Elem. Conchol. 284 A chambered Vermiculus, taken from Davila's Catalogue. |