beaver

Wikipedia

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈbiːvə/, SAMPA: /"bi:v@/
• (US) enPR: bēʹvər, IPA: /ˈbiːvɚ/, SAMPA: /"bi:v@`/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -iːvə(r)
• Homophones: Belvoir, bever

Etymology 1

Beavers

From Middle English bever, from Old English beofor (“beaver”), from Proto-Germanic *bebruz (“beaver”) (compare Dutch bever, French bièvre, German Biber, Swedish dialect bjur), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰébʰrus (“beaver”) (compare Welsh befer, Latin fiber, Lithuanian bẽbras, Russian бобр (bobr), Avestan  (bawra),  (bawri), Sanskrit  (bábruka, “mongoose; ichneumon”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreu- (“shining, brown”). Related to brown and bear.

Noun

beaver (plural beavers or beaver)

1. An aquatic rodent of the genus Castor, having a wide, flat tail and webbed feet.
2. A hat, of various shape, made from a felted beaver fur, fashionable in Europe between 1550 and 1850
3. A possibly different "beaver hat" is mentioned by Chaucer in both Canterbury Tales and Testament of Creeside, and indeed much earlier in Normandy Chronicle of the Abbey of St Wandrille refers to a hat given before 833 as "quem vulgaris Bevurum".
4. (vulgar, slang) The pubic hair and/or vulva of a woman.

Derived terms

• American beaver
• European beaver

Related terms

• beaver away
• beavered
• busy as a beaver
• eager beaver

Translations

aquatic mammal

Albanian: kastori Ancient Greek: κάστωρ (kastōr) m. Arabic: سمور (ar) (sammuur) m. Armenian: կուղբ (hy) (kuġb) Basque: kastore Belarusian: бабер (be) (babér) m. Bosnian: dabar (bs) m. Breton: avank eurazia Bulgarian: бобър (bg) (bóbǎr) m. Catalan: castor Cherokee: ᏙᏯ (doya) Chinese: Mandarin: 海狸 (zh) (hǎilí), 河狸 (zh) (hélí) Cree: amisk (cr) Croatian: dabar (hr) m. Czech: bobr (cs) m. Danish: bæver (da) Dutch: bever (nl) m. Esperanto: kastoro Estonian: kobras, piiber (archaic) Faroese: bævur (fo) m. Finnish: majava (fi) French: castor (fr) m., bièvre (fr) m. (archaic) Friulian: castôr Galician: castor Georgian: თახვი (ka) (t'axvi) German: Biber (de) m. Greek: κάστορας (el) (kástoras) m. Hopi: pahona Hungarian: hód (hu) Icelandic: bjór (is) m., bifur (is) m. Irish: béabhar (ga) m. Italian: castoro (it) m. Japanese: ビーバー (ja) (bībā), 海狸 (ja) (かいり, kairi, うみだぬき, umidanuki) Korean: 비버 (ko) (bibeo) Ladin: castour Latgalian: babrys m., babrīne f.

Latin: castor (la) m. Latvian: bebrs (lv) m. Lithuanian: bebras (lt) m. Lower Sorbian: bobr Macedonian: дабар (mk) (dábar) m. Maltese: bijver m. Montagnais: amishkᵘ Navajo: chaaʼ Norwegian: bever (no) m. Occitan: vibre (oc) Old French: bievre m. Polish: bóbr (pl) m. Portuguese: castor (pt) m. Potawatomi: mek Romani: vidroy m. vidra f. Romanian: castor (ro) Romansch: castur Russian: бобр (ru) (bobr) m., бобёр (ru) (bobjór) m. Sami: mádjit Sardinian: castorru, castoro Scottish Gaelic: los-leathann (gd) m., biobhair (gd) m., beathadach (gd) m. Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: дабар (sh) m. Roman: dabar (sh) m. Slovak: bobor (sk) m. Slovene: bober (sl) m. Spanish: castor (es) m. Swahili: panyabuku-maji (sw), biva (sw), fondosi (sw) Swedish: bäver (sv) Taos: p’óyona Turkish: kastor (tr), kunduz (tr) Ukrainian: бобер (uk) (bobér) m. Upper Sorbian: bobr Welsh: afanc, llostlydan West Frisian: bever

coarse slang: pubic hair/vulva of a woman

Bulgarian: катеричка (bg) f. Czech: bobr (cs) m. Danish: mis (da) c. Finnish: karvakolmio, vittu French: chatte (fr) f., (fou)foune (fr) f., minou (fr) m.

German: Bär (de) Italian: figa (it) f. Polish: bóbr (pl) m. Swedish: mus (sv) c.

See also

• Appendix:Animals

Etymology 2

From Old French baviere (“child's bib”), from baver (“slaver”).

Noun

beaver (plural beavers)

1. (now historical) The lower face-guard of a helmet.
   • 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:

     Without alighting from his horse, the conqueror called for a bowl of wine, and opening the beaver, or lower part of his helmet, announced that he quaffed it, “To all true English hearts, and to the confusion of foreign tyrants.”

   • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber 1992, p. 128:

     As each one brings a little of himself to what he sees you brought the trappings of your historic preoccupations, so that Monsieur flattered you by presenting himself with beaver up like Hamlet's father's ghost!

Etymology 3

Alternative forms.

Noun

beaver (plural beavers)

1. Alternative form of bever.

References

• The Manual of Heraldry, Fifth Edition, by Anonymous, London, 1862, online at [1]