caterpillar
English
[edit]
Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English catirpel, catirpeller, probably from Old Northern French catepeluse (Modern French chatte + pileuse (“hairy cat”)), from Late Latin catta + pilōsa. The sense "rapacious, extortionate person" arose by association with obsolete piller (“plunderer”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkætəˌpɪlə/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈkætɚˌpɪlɚ/, /ˈkætəˌpɪlɚ/
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
[edit]caterpillar (plural caterpillars)
- The larva of a butterfly or moth; leafworm.
- 2003, Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake, Virago Press (2013), page 46:
- A caterpillar is letting itself down on a thread, twirling slowly like a rope artist, spiralling towards his chest. It’s a luscious, unreal green, like a gumdrop, and covered with tiny bright hairs.
- The bird just ate that green caterpillar.
- A vehicle with a caterpillar track; a crawler.
- (mathematics) A set of subtrees of a tree.
- (obsolete) A rapacious, extortionate person preying upon the community.
- 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 33:
- Bristow Castle, which they say is held
By Busbie, Bagot, and their Complices,
The Caterpillers of the Commonwealth,
Which I haue sworne to weed, and plucke away.
Derived terms
[edit]- alfalfa caterpillar
- black swallowtail caterpillar
- caterpillar catcher
- Caterpillar Club
- caterpillar eater
- caterpillared
- caterpillar fungus
- caterpillar hunter
- caterpillarization
- caterpillarize
- caterpillarlike
- caterpillar roll
- caterpillar searcher
- caterpillar skiing
- caterpillar track
- caterpillar tree
- Christmas caterpillar
- eastern tent caterpillar
- forest caterpillar hunter
- hog caterpillar
- looper caterpillar
- monarch caterpillar
- Polyphemus caterpillar
- processionary caterpillar
- pseudocaterpillar
- puss caterpillar
- red-humped caterpillar
- saddleback caterpillar
- salt-marsh caterpillar
- sea caterpillar
- slug caterpillar
- tent caterpillar
- vegetable caterpillar
- woolly bear caterpillar
- zebra caterpillar
Translations
[edit]larva of a butterfly
|
vehicle with a caterpillar track
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb
[edit]caterpillar (third-person singular simple present caterpillars, present participle caterpillaring, simple past and past participle caterpillared)
- (intransitive) To move along slowly, drawing one's body up, in the manner of a caterpillar.
See also
[edit]Swedish
[edit]Noun
[edit]caterpillar c
- A vehicle with caterpillar track
- Synonym: bandfordon
Declension
[edit]| nominative | genitive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | indefinite | caterpillar | caterpillars |
| definite | caterpillarn | caterpillarns | |
| plural | indefinite | caterpillrar | caterpillrars |
| definite | caterpillrarna | caterpillrarnas |
References
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old Northern French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Mathematics
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English genericized trademarks
- en:Baby animals
- en:Insects
- en:Vehicles
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- Swedish genericized trademarks