Vermin (colloquiallyvarmint(s)[1] orvarmit(s)) arepests ornuisance animals thatspread diseases and destroycrops,livestock, andproperty. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included vary by region and enterprise.
The term derives from theLatinvermis (worm), and was originally used for the worm-likelarvae of certaininsects, many of which infest foodstuffs.[2] The termvarmint (andvermint) has been found in sources from c. 1530–1540s.[1][3]
The term "vermin" is used to refer to a wide scope of organisms, includingrodents (such asrats),cockroaches,termites,bed bugs,[4]stoats,sables.
Historically, in the 16th and 17th century, the expression also became used as aderogatory term associated with groups of persons typically plagued by vermin, namelybeggars andvagabonds, and more generallythe poor.[5]
Disease-carryingrodents andinsects are the usual case, but the term is also applied to larger animals—especially smallpredators—typically because they consumeresources which humans consider theirs, such aslivestock and crops. Birds which eat cereal crops and fruit are an example. TheAmerican crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), is widely hated by farmers because of crop depredation.Pigeons, which have been widely introduced in urban environments, are also sometimes considered vermin. Some varieties ofsnakes andarachnids may also be referred to as vermin. "Vermin" is also used by some people as a term of abuse, either individually or collectively.[1]
Varmint orvarmit is anAmerican-Englishcolloquialism, a corruption of "vermin" particularly common to theAmerican East and South-east within the nearby bordering states of the vastAppalachia region. The term describes species which raid farms from without, as opposed to vermin (such as rats) that infest from within, thus referring mainly to predators such asferal dogs,foxes,weasels, andcoyotes, sometimes evenwolves or rarelybears, but also, to a lesser degree, herbivores and burrowing animals that directly damage crops and land.
Although "varmint/varmit" is not the prevalent usage inStandard Written English, it is a common descriptor for certain kinds of weapons andpest control situations in the Appalachian and nearby states and the American West and South-west which have adopted terms such asvarmint rifle andvarmint hunting.
Any species can develop into vermin if introduced into a region where there are favorable living conditions and few natural predators. In such cases, they are seen as an invasive species and humans often choose to fill the role of thepredator to limit the danger to the environment. Examples of vermin includegoats on theGalápagos Islands,rabbits in Australia orcats onPrince Edward Islands.Rats,mice, andcockroaches are common urban and suburban vermin. The introduction of Hippos into Columbia by Pablo Escobar led to the Hippos becoming an invasive species. The transplanted Hippos thrived and flourished in Columbia due to the favorable living conditions and few predators leading to a invasively rapid increase of the Hippo population.
Under Tudor "vermin laws", many creatures were seen as competitors for the produce of the countryside and bounties were paid by the parish for their carcasses. The declaration of thered kite as vermin led to its decline to the point of extirpation in the UK by the 20th century. However, the red kite has since been reintroduced to much of Scotland and the majority of England and Wales by the trans-location of breeding pairs from other parts of Europe.[6]
Origin: 1530–40; var. of vermin
The dictionary definition ofvermin at Wiktionary