ÁMA
nafnorðkvenkyn
u, f. (and ámu-sótt, f.) erysipelas, Sturl. ii. 116; in common talk corrupted into heimakona or heimakoma.
2. poët. a giantess, Edda (Gl.); hence the play of words in the saying, gengin er gygr or fæti en harðsperra aptr komin, gone is the giantess (erysipelas), but a worse (sceloturbe) has come after.
3. a tub, awme, Germ. ahm.
4. in Norse mod. dialects the larva is called aama (v. Ivar Aasen); and ámu-maðkr, spelt ánu-maðkr, a kind of maggot, lumbricus terrestris, is probably rightly referred to this. Fél. ix. states that it has this name from its being used to cure erysipelas.