Word Study
lepisma
CIDE DICTIONARY
lepisma, n. [NL., fr. Gr. le`pisma peel, fr. lepi`s -i`dos, a scale.].
A genus of wingless thysanurous insects having an elongated flattened body, covered with shining scales and terminated by seven unequal bristles. A common species (Lepisma saccharina ) is found in houses, and often injures books and furniture; it feeds on starch and eats sized paper and starched clothes. Called also shiner , silverfish , silver witch , silver moth , and furniture bug . [1913 Webster]
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