Hebrews `ash, from a root meaning "to fall away," as moth-eaten garments fall to pieces (Job 4:19; 13:28; Isaiah 50:9; 51:8; Hosea 5:12).

Gr. ses, thus rendered in Matthew 6:19, 20; Luke 12:33. Allusion is thus made to the destruction of clothing by the larvae of the clothes-moth. This is the only lepidopterous insect referred to in Scripture.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) A mote.

2. (n.) Any nocturnal lepidopterous insect, or any not included among the butterflies; as, the luna moth; Io moth; hawk moth.

3. (n.) Any lepidopterous insect that feeds upon garments, grain, etc.; as, the clothes moth; grain moth; bee moth.

4. (n.) Any one of various other insects that destroy woolen and fur goods, etc., esp. the larvae of several species of beetles of the genera Dermestes and Anthrenus. Carpet moths are often the larvae of Anthrenus. See Carpet beetle, under Carpet, Dermestes, Anthrenus.

5. (n.) Anything which gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.