larva, -ae / Sharon Lebell

The internet says "larva" is a first declension Latin noun meaning mask, ghost, or evil spirit. 

In the English word derived from this, the singular is "larva" and the plural is "larvae". These forms would have been the nominative singular and plural in Latin. So even if they are used as objects in an English sentence, they are frozen, as it were, in the form they arrived in. The English word follows the Latin for number (i.e., singular or plural), in this word, but not, of course, for case because English doesn't have a case system. 

Also, the pronunciation is different. In Latin, if my understanding of pronunciation is correct, it would be "lahr wa" and "lahr why". But in English, it's "lahr vuh" and "lahr vee". 

One dictionary I consulted said this word is related to "lars" (as in lars and penates). 

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Yesterday, at the Strand, I picked up a copy of The Art of Living, by Sharon Lebell, which is her interpretation of Epictetus for modern life. She deliberately uses the word interpretation, rather than translation, because she emphasizes modern idiom over exactitude in translation and renders it according to contemporary circumstances. I got to read a good portion of it on the train coming home yesterday evening. It's positively brilliant!