[pronounced approximately WEER-muhs MATE-uh] lit., worms' meat (i.e., food, meal). Middle English term for the body that the soul will leave behind after death. [Cf. the discussion of "meat" -- as opposed to the disembodied consciousness that roams cyberspace -- in William Gibson's Neuromancer (1984)]. The specific reference comes from a Latin sermon, delivered probably in Worcester about 1400, preached on the canticle text 'I am black, but comely'. The sermon contains some vernacular verses addressed to a 'Lady Everyman': Tell us, O lady de blackworth, what worth have worldly glory and the aforesaid vanities, of which men are wont to make boast. Once you were fair in body, gentle of blood, privileged with honours, abounding in houses and wealth. All these things you possessed, and now of all you can say thus --
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