kukainis

Etymology
Derived with the suffix (and made into a masculine 2nd-declension noun in -is) from an old verb, from  , from , ,. Alongside, there are other verbs derived from the same stem that refer to ways of moving around: (dialectal) “to huddle up, to roll up, to become entangled, to try to stand up,”  “to do something clumsily, to go with effort, to jostle, to hustle,”  “to drag oneself along, to trudge.” If these terms are semantically related to , then its original meaning was something like “(little) animal that creeps, trudges along, rolls up into a ball (e.g., when touched).” The word originally applied only to certain species of (usually harmful) insects; its meaning began expanding in the 18th century, but in the late 19th century it was still mostly applied only to winged insects. The extension to all insects was suggested by H. Kavals in the 1860s, and adopted by K. Valdemārs in his dictionary. Cognates include 🇨🇬 dialectal, (probably borrowings from 🇨🇬).

Noun

 * 1) insect, bug arthropod with a three-part body, three pairs of legs, sometimes also wings (class: ); less specifically, also other kinds of arthropods, such as spiders
 * 2)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature
 * 1)  being, creature

Usage notes
is the usual term for “insect” in ; its synonym is rarer, and usually more academic or learned.