What’s the plural of “larva”?
The plural of larva is larvae or larvas.
What’s the singular of “larva”?
Larva is a singular noun. Larvae and larvas is the plural of larva.
What does the word “larva” mean?
Larva in the dictionary is defined as:
The immature, wingless, and often wormlike feeding form that hatches from the egg of many insects, alters chiefly in size while passing through several molts, and is finally transformed into a pupa or chrysalis (see CHRYSALIS sense 1a) from which the adult emerges.
Other Latin nouns
| singular | plural |
|---|---|
| vertebra | vertebrae or vertebras |
| antenna | antennae and antennas |
| larva | larvae and larvas |
| formula | formulae or formulas |
| nebula | nebulae or nebulas |
Practice using the verb in different tenses with example sentences to memorize the correct forms.
“Larva”, singular, used in sentences
1. Just one predatory larva can devour as many as 5,000 prey larvae before reaching adulthood. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 1 Nov. 2022
2. The smallest larva ever weighed was 3.7 milligrams. Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2022
3. Instead a larva must first be ingested by a copepod, a crustacean akin to a tiny shrimp. Madhusree Mukerjee, Scientific American, 8 Sep. 2022
4. The larva looked ugly, but it was destined to hatch into a beautiful butterfly
5. The larva of a butterfly is called a caterpillar.
“Larvae”/”larvas”, plural, used in sentences
1. They eat the larvae of water insects.
2. In the body the eggs hatch, releasing larvae.
3. They ship microscopic larvae – which grow into worms after being swallowed – all over the world. The Guardian. (2016)
4. The larvae burrow into cracks in the floor.
5. Just one predatory larva can devour as many as 5,000 prey larvae before reaching adulthood.
Origin of larva
From etymology online on larva (n.):
1630s, “a ghost, specter, disembodied spirit” (earlier as larve, c. 1600), from Latin larva (plural larvae), earlier larua “ghost, evil spirit, demon,” also “mask,” a word from Roman mythology, of unknown origin.
Read more about nouns
| Types of nouns | What’s the plural of …? |
|---|---|
| plural-only nouns | …moose? |
| mass nouns | …octopus? |
| collective nouns | …cactus? |
| abstract nouns vs. concrete nouns | …analysis? |
| possessive nouns | …curriculum? |
| regular and irregular nouns | …crisis? |
Worksheet
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What is the plural of ‘larva’?
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