Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗An insect, especially a beetle, at an immature stage of its life cycle. · Food. · A dirty person. · A despicable person; a lowlife.
To scavenge or in some way scrounge, typically for food. · To dig; to dig up by the roots; to root out by digging; often followed by up. · To supply with food. · To eat.
From Middle English grubben, grobben, from Old English *grubbian, from Proto-West Germanic *grubb-, from Proto-Germanic *grubb- (compare Middle Dutch grobben (“to scrape, scramble, grab”), Old High German grubilōn (“to dig, search”), German grübeln (“to meditate, ponder”)), from Proto-Germanic *grub- (“to dig”) (see *grabaną). The noun sense of "larva" is from Middle English grub, grubbe, grobbe, crubbe and may derive from the notion of "digging insect" from the verb above, or from the uncertainly related Middle English grub (“dwarfish fellow”). Compare West Frisian krobbe (“beetle”). The slang sense of "food" is first recorded 1659, and has been linked with birds eating grubs or with bub (“drink”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Root classification mention*gʰrebʰ-ine-pro
- Inherited-form mentiongrubbenenm
- Inherited-form mention*grubbianang
- Derivation mention*grubb-gmw-pro
- Derivation mention*grubb-gem-pro
- Cognate mentiongrobbendum · to scrape, scramble, grab
- Cognate mentiongrubilōngoh · to dig, search
- Cognate mentiongrübelnde · to meditate, ponder
- Derivation mention*grub-gem-pro · to dig
- Inherited-form mentiongrubenm
- Cognate mentiongrubenm · dwarfish fellow
- Cognate mentionkrobbefy · beetle
This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
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