Caterpillar

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkætəˌpɪlə/

Definitions

1. A stage in the life cycle of moths and butterflies, this creature features a long, segmented body and primarily feeds on leaves while preparing for metamorphosis
2. Known for its role in the transformation into winged insects, this larval form has a distinct long body structure and assimilates plant matter for growth
3. A larval form of insects like butterflies and moths, this organism has a long, segmented physique and primarily consumes foliage as it undergoes development

Etymology: The creature's name once had nothing to do with insects. Its Middle English form, "catirpel", probably came from Old Northern French "catepeluse", which combined the French "chatte" (cat) with "pileuse" (hairy), so the sense was roughly "hairy cat". That French phrase traces back to Late Latin "catta" and "pilōsa", the same pairing that gives the English word its first half. The name later picked up a second sense. Caterpillar also came to mean a rapacious, extortionate person, an association with the obsolete verb "piller", meaning plunderer. Fittingly, the insect's appetite for leaves made the comparison easy to draw, even though the two meanings never shared a root. English already had a native name for the creature, "cawelwyrm" in Old English, which means "caterpillar" and reflects the older word "cawel" (cabbage) with "wyrm" (worm). Over the Middle Ages the native term gave way to the French-derived one, which is why the Old English kale-worm survives only as a historical curiosity.

Synonyms: larva, grub