larva (ante-class. as trisyl. lārua), ae, f. 2. lar, a ghost, spectre: larvae stimulant virum, Plaut. Capt. 3, 4, 66: amator qui me et uxorem ludificatust larva, id. Cas. 3, 4, 2; id. Aul. 4, 4, 15: cum mortuis non nisi larvas luctari, Plin. praef. H. N. § 31.

—As a term of reproach, hobgoblin, scarecrow: etiam loquere larua? Plaut. Merc. 5, 4, 20: nam haec quidem edepol larvarum plenast, possessed, id. Am. 2, 2, 145.

— Transf. A mask (cf. persona): nil illi larva et tragicis opus esse cothurnis, Hor. S. 1, 5, 64.

— A skeleton, Petr. 34, 8.