벌레

Etymology
from immediately pre-Middle Korean ; the majority of modern dialects still preserve the.

Beyond the written record, both Middle Korean and all modern dialects have at least two words meaning "bug": a form descended from, and another form descended from > 🇨🇬 > Modern Seoul. Both and  probably represent differently suffixed forms of the same ancestral root.

Not related to, although some minor dialects (not the mainstream in any province) have conflated the two words.

Noun

 * 1) bug, insect (any small arthropod such as insects, spiders, etc.)
 * 2)  insect (contemptible, repulsive person)
 * 3)  someone who is obsessed with something
 * 4)  bee
 * 1)  bee
 * 1)  bee

Usage notes
When used in compounds, the word may tend to refer to beetles, larvae, and other bugs that do not fly often.