'sandworm' originates from English, specifically the words 'sand' and 'worm', where 'sand' meant 'loose granular particles' and 'worm' meant 'a creeping invertebrate'.

'sand' and 'worm' derive from Old English 'sand' and 'wyrm' respectively; these elements were combined in Modern English to form the compound 'sandworm'.

Initially, it meant simply 'a worm that lives in sand'; over time the term has come to refer specifically to certain species used as bait and, in popular culture, to the giant fictional creatures in the Dune novels.