means Moths are the mostly nocturnal, dull-winged insects of the order Lepidoptera, the same group as butterflies, drawn helplessly to artificial lights and fond of eating wool sweaters.

from "Moth" comes from Old English "moþþe," a word with close kin across the Germanic family — Dutch "mot," German "Motte" — all naming the same fluttering pest. For most of its life the word meant chiefly the clothes-eating, fabric-gnawing larva; the broader sense covering the whole winged tribe came later. The deeper roots are murky, but it may be tied to an old word for "maggot" or "midge," fitting for a creature first known by the holes it left behind.