Meaning

noun general term for any insect or similar creeping or crawling invertebrate

noun a fault or defect in a computer program, system, or machine

noun a small hidden microphone; for listening secretly

originFirst attested in this form around 1620 (referring to a “bedbug”), from earlier bugge (“beetle”), from Middle English bugge (“scarecrow, hobgoblin”) which is traced alternatively to: * a Celtic root found in Scots bogill (“goblin, bugbear”) and obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”); compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat, fear”) and Middle Irish bocanách (“supernatural being”). * Proto-Germanic *bugja-…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0