# beetle
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbiːtəl/
** (General American) IPA: [ˈbiɾəɫ]
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːtəl
* Homophone: Beatle

### Etymology 1

From Middle English bitle, bityl, bytylle, from Old English bitula, bitela, bītel (“beetle”), from Proto-West Germanic *bitilō, *bītil, from Proto-Germanic *bitilô, *bītilaz (“that which tends to bite, biter, beetle”), equivalent to bite +‎ -le. Cognate with Old High German bicco (“beetle”), Danish bille (“beetle”), Icelandic bitil, bitul (“a bite, bit”), Faroese bitil (“small piece, bittock”).

#### Alternative forms

* bittle, betel, bittil (all obsolete)

#### Noun

beetle (plural beetles)
* Any of numerous species of insect in the order Coleoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of rear wings when at rest.
* (uncountable) A game of chance in which players attempt to complete a drawing of a beetle, different dice rolls allowing them to add the various body parts.
** 1944, Queen's Nurses' Magazine, volumes 33-35, page 12:Guessing competitions were tackled with much enthusiasm, followed by a beetle drive, and judging by the laughter, this was popular with all.
* Alternative letter-case form of Beetle (“car”)
** For quotations using this term, see Citations:beetle.

##### Synonyms

* (insect): bug (U.S. colloquial)

##### Derived terms

* Alexander beetle
* ambrosia beetle
* ant beetle
* ant nest beetle
* Asian lady beetle
* Asiatic beetle
* asparagus beetle
* Atlas beetle
* bacon beetle
* bark beetle
* Beatles
* bee beetle
* beetle bank
* beetlebrain
* beetle brow
* beetle-browed
* beetle bug
* beetle-crusher
* beetle drive
* beetle grass
* beetlehead
* beetle-headed
* beetlelike
* beetle mite
* beetler
* beetleskin
* beetle-squasher
* beetle-sticker
* beetleweed
* beetly
* Bess beetle
* Betsy beetle
* bill-beetle
* biscuit beetle
* black beetle
* black carpet beetle
* blind as a beetle
* blister beetle
* bloody-nosed beetle
* blue ground beetle
* bombardier beetle
* bread beetle
* burying beetle
* cactus longhorn beetle
* cadelle beetle
* cane beetle
* capricorn beetle (Cerambyx spp.)
* cardinal beetle
* Carolina metallic tiger beetle
* Carolina tiger beetle
* carpet beetle
* carrion beetle
* cedar beetle
* cereal leaf beetle
* Christmas beetle (Anoplognathus spp.)
* cigar beetle
* cigarette beetle
* click beetle (Elateridae spp.)
* clown beetle
* Colorado beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)
* Colorado potato beetle
* confused flour beetle
* crab-like rove beetle
* cucumber beetle
* darkling beetle
* deadnettle leaf beetle
* death-watch beetle
* deathwatch beetle (Anobiidae spp.)
* diamond beetle
* diving beetle
* dorbeetle
* drugstore beetle
* dung-beetle
* dung beetle (Scarabaeidae spp.)
* eight-spotted flea beetle
* elephant beetle
* elm bark beetle
* elm beetle
* false potato beetle
* fiddle beetle
* fire beetle
* flea beetle
* flour beetle
* flower beetle
* frog-legged beetle
* fungus beetle
* fur beetle
* furniture beetle
* golden beetle
* goldsmith beetle
* Goliath beetle
* grain beetle
* green fruit beetle
* green June beetle
* ground beetle
* hairy click beetle
* harlequin lady beetle
* Hercules beetle
* hide beetle
* hister beetle
* hog-beetle
* huhu beetle (Prionoplus reticularis)
* ironclad beetle
* Japanese beetle
* jewel beetle
* June beetle
* kangaroo beetle
* khapra beetle
* lady beetle
* ladybeetle
* ladybird beetle
* lantern beetle
* larder beetle
* leaf beetle
* leaf-beetle
* lined flat bark beetle
* lizard beetle
* longhorn beetle
* long-horned beetle
* mealworm beetle
* Mexican bean beetle
* mimic beetle
* museum beetle
* musk beetle
* net-winged beetle
* oil beetle (Meloe spp.)
* orange blister beetle
* Oriental beetle
* overbeetling
* ox beetle
* peach bark beetle
* pill beetle
* pinacate beetle
* pleasing fungus beetle (Erotylidae spp.)
* potato beetle
* powder-post beetle
* powderpost beetle
* raspberry beetle
* red flour beetle
* rhino beetle
* rhinoceros beetle (Dynastes spp. etc.)
* riffle beetle
* rove beetle (Staphylinidae spp.)
* sacred beetle
* Say blister beetle
* scarab beetle (Scarabaeidae spp.)
* scarlet lily beetle
* scavenger beetle
* seed beetle
* sexton beetle
* shield beetle
* shit beetle
* skin beetle
* smaller European elm bark beetle
* snap beetle
* snapping beetle
* snout beetle
* soldier beetle
* spider beetle
* spotted cucumber beetle
* spring-beetle
* spring beetle
* squash beetle
* stag-beetle
* stag beetle (Lucanidae spp.)
* stink beetle
* striped cucumber beetle
* sun beetle
* sunflower beetle
* tapestry beetle
* ten-lined June beetle
* thunder beetle (Lucanus cervus)
* thunderbolt beetle (Sarosesthes fulminans)
* tiger beetle
* titan beetle
* tobacco beetle
* tortoise beetle
* trilobite beetle
* wardrobe beetle
* wasp beetle
* water beetle
* watermelon beetle
* water scavenger beetle
* whirligig beetle (Gyrinidae spp.)
* yellow-crescent blister beetle

##### Translations

Albanian: brumbull (sq) m, zhuzhak (sq) m
Amharic: ጢንዚዛ (ṭinziza)
Arabic: خُنْفُسَاء f (ḵunfusāʔ)
Egyptian Arabic: جيز m (gīz)
Hijazi Arabic: خُنْفُسانة f (ḵunfusāna)
Aragonese: escarabaxo m
Armenian: բզեզ (hy) (bzez)
Asturian: escarabayu (ast) m
Azerbaijani: böcək (az)
Banjarese: karariang
Bashkir: ҡуңыҙ (quñıź)
Basque: kakalardo
Bau Bidayuh: gieng
Belarusian: жук m (žuk), цвердакры́лы m (cvjerdakrýly) (coleopterous)
Bengali: গুবরে পোকা (bn) (gubore pōka)
Breton: c'hwil (br) m
Brunei Malay: kumbang
Bulgarian: бръ́мбар (bg) m (brǎ́mbar)
Burmese: ပိုးတောင်မာ (my) (pui:taungma)
Catalan: escarabat (ca) m
Cebuano: bakukang
Central Melanau: buyun
Chinese:
Cantonese: 甲蟲 / 甲虫 (gaap$^3$ cung$^4$)
Hakka: 蛄仔 (kû-é)
Hokkien: 龜仔 / 龟仔 (ku-á)
Mandarin: 甲蟲 / 甲虫 (zh) (jiǎchóng), 甲殼蟲 / 甲壳虫 (zh) (jiǎqiàochóng, jiǎkéchóng)
Chukchi: тыӄиӈэвыт (tyqiṇėvyt)
Crimean Tatar: qoñuz
Czech: brouk (cs) m
Danish: bille (da) c
Dutch: kever (nl) m
Egyptian: (ꜥpšꜣy)
Esperanto: skarabo
Estonian: mardikas
Faroese: klukka f
Finnish: kovakuoriainen (fi)
French: scarabée (fr) m
Galician: escaravello m
Georgian: ხოჭო (ka) (xoč̣o)
German: Käfer (de) m
Alemannic German: Chäfer m
Greek: σκαθάρι (el) n (skathári)
Ancient: κάνθαρος m (kántharos)
Greenlandic: sikannertooq
Hebrew: חִפּוּשִׁית / חיפושית (he) f (khipushít)
Hindi: गुबरैला (hi) m (gubrailā), भृंग (hi) m (bhŕṅg)
Hungarian: bogár (hu)
Icelandic: bjalla (is) f
Indonesian: kumbang (id)
Ingrian: pöröläin
Irish: ciaróg (ga) f
Italian: coleottero (it) m, scarabeo (it) m
Japanese: 甲虫 (ja) (こうちゅう, kōchū)
Javanese: kumbang (jv)
Kazakh: қоңыз (qoñyz)
Khmer: កញ្ចុកបត្តសត្វ (km) (kañcoʼ kaʼbattaʼsat)
Korean: 갑충(甲蟲) (gapchung)
Kyrgyz: коңуз (ky) (koŋuz)
Ladin: chëifer m
Lao: ດ້ວງ (dūang), ແມງ (mǣng)
Latgalian: vabale f, (small) vaguls m
Latin: coleopterum n
Latvian: vabole f
Lithuanian: vabalas (lt) m
Low German:
German Low German: Käver m, Sever m, Säver m, Sebber m
Luxembourgish: Kiewerlek (lb) m
Macedonian: бумбар m (bumbar), тврдокрилец m (tvrdokrilec)
Malagasy: borera (mg)
Malay: kumbang (ms)
Jawi: کومبڠ
Malayalam: വണ്ട് (ml) (vaṇṭŭ), ഭ്രമരം (ml) (bhramaraṁ) (literary)
Maltese: ħanfusa f
Maori: pītara, tātaka, pāpapa, pepeke
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: цох (mn) (cox)
Mongolian: ᠴᠣᠬᠤ (čoqu)
Navajo: chéłchaaʼ
Neapolitan: scarrafone m
Northern Sami: gobbá
Norwegian:
Bokmål: bille (no) m
Nynorsk: bille f
Occitan: escarabat m
Old English: ċeafor m
Old French: escharbot m (Judeo-French)
Pannonian Rusyn: буба f (buba), хробак m (xrobak)
Pashto: ګونګټ m (gungᶕṭ)
Persian:
Dari: قَانْغوزَک (qānğōzak)
Iranian Persian: سوسْک (susk), خَبَزْدو (xabazdu)
Plautdietsch: Kjniepa m
Polish: chrząszcz (pl) m, żuk (pl) m
Portuguese: escaravelho (pt) m, besouro (pt) m
Quechua: akatanga
Romanian: gândac (ro) m
Russian: жук (ru) m (žuk), жесткокры́лый (ru) m (žestkokrýlyj) (coleopterous)
Sanskrit: भ्रमर (sa) m (bhramara)
Scottish Gaelic: daol (gd) m, daolag (gd) f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: тврдокрилац m, бу̏ба f
Roman: tvrdokrilac, bȕba (sh) f
Shor: кӱйе (küye)
Slovak: chrobák (sk) m
Slovene: hrošč (sl) m
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: bruk m
Upper Sorbian: žuk m
Southern Altai: коҥус (koŋus)
Spanish: escarabajo (es) m
Sranan Tongo: asege
Sudovian: grombōle f
Swahili: mende (sw)
Swedish: skalbagge (sv) c
Tajik: гамбуск (tg) (gambusk)
Tamil: வண்டு (ta) (vaṇṭu)
Tatar: бөҗәк (tt) (böcäk), коңгыз (tt) (qoñgız)
Telugu: భ్రమరం (te) (bhramaraṁ)
Thai: ด้วง (th) (dûuang), แมลง (th) (má-lɛɛng), แมง (th) (mɛɛng)
Tibetan: བསེ་ལེ་པད་གོག (bse le pad gog)
Tigrinya: ሕንዚዝ (ḥənziz)
Tswana: khukhwane
Turkish: böcek (tr)
Turkmen: tomzak
Ukrainian: жук (uk) m (žuk), джук m (džuk), хрущ m (xrušč), твердокри́лий m (tverdokrýlyj) (coleopterous)
Urdu: بَھون٘را m (bha͠urā), گوبْرِیلا m (gobrīlā)
Uyghur: قوڭغۇز (qongghuz)
Uzbek: qoʻngʻiz (uz)
Vietnamese: bọ cánh cứng
Volapük: cäf (vo), (genus Carabus, ♂♀) karab
Welsh: chwilen f
West Coast Bajau: utod
Wolof: gunóor bi
Yakut: хомурдуос (qomurduos)
Yiddish: דזשוכע f (dzhukhe), זשוק m (zhuk) :

#### Verb

beetle (third-person singular simple present beetles, present participle beetling, simple past and past participle beetled)
* To move (away) quickly, to scurry away.
    He beetled off on his vacation.
** 1982, A Woman of No Importance (TV programme)
    I beetled across to our table, but no Pauline, no Mr Cresswell, no Mr Rudyard.
** 1983, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night‎, Mountaineers Books, →ISBN, page 144:“ […] But he seems to have beetled off somewhere as usual. […] ”
** 2003, J. K. Rowling, “The Department of Mysteries”, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, →ISBN, page 766:In the falling darkness Harry saw small collections of lights as they passed over more villages, then a winding road on which a single car was beetling its way home through the hills. …
** 2005, James Doss, The Witch's Tongue, →ISBN, page 178:Her eyes still closed, his aunt smiled cruelly. “I know what you are dying to say, Bertie. Go ahead—take the cheap shot. I’ll squash you like the nasty little bug you are.” ¶ Thus chastened, the little man beetled away.

#### See also

* bug
* chafer
* firefly
* ladybird
* scarab
* jumping bristletails, archaeognathans (Archaeognatha)
* cockroaches and termites, blattodeans (Blattodea)
* beetles, coleopterans (Coleoptera)
* earwigs, dermapterans (Dermaptera)
* flies, dipterans (Diptera)
* webspinners, embiopterans (Embioptera)
* mayflies, ephemeropterans (Ephemeroptera)
* ice crawlers, grylloblattodeans (Grylloblattodea)
* true bugs, hemipterans (Hemiptera)
* hymenopterans (ants, bees, wasps, etc.) (Hymenoptera)
* butterflies and moths, lepidopterans (Lepidoptera)
* mantises, mantodeans (Mantodea)
* mantophasmids (Mantophasmatodea)
* scorpionflies, mecopterans (Mecoptera)
* megalopterans (alderflies, dobsonflies, fishflies, etc.) (Megaloptera)
* neuropterans (antlions, lacewings, mantisflies, etc.) (Neuroptera)
* damselflies and dragonflies, odonatans (Odonata)
* orthopterans (crickets, grasshoppers, katydids, etc.) (Orthoptera)
* stick insects, phasmatodeans (Phasmatodea)
* stoneflies, plecopterans (Plecoptera)
* booklice, psocodeans (Psocodea)
* snakeflies, raphidiopterans (Raphidioptera)
* fleas, siphonapterans (Siphonaptera)
* strepsipterans (Strepsiptera)
* thrips, thysanopterans (Thysanoptera)
* caddis flies, trichopterans (Trichoptera)
* zorapterans (Zoraptera)
* silverfish, zygentomans (Zygentoma)

### Etymology 2

From Middle English bitel-brouwed (“beetle-browed”). Possibly after beetle, from the fact that some beetles have bushy antennae.

#### Adjective

beetle (comparative more beetle, superlative most beetle)
* Protruding, jutting, overhanging.
    beetle brows

#### Verb

beetle (third-person singular simple present beetles, present participle beetling, simple past and past participle beetled)
* (ambitransitive) To loom over; to extend or jut (above).
    The heavy chimney beetled over the thatched roof.
** c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:To the dreadful summit of the cliff / That beetles o'er his base into the sea.
** 1822, William Wordsworth, In a Carriage, upon the Banks of the Rhin:Each beetling rampart, and each tower sublime.
** 1858 January-March, Dean of Pimlico, “A Story for the New Year”, in Dublin University Magazine reprinted in Littell's Living Age‎, volume 56 (volume 20 of the second series), Littell, Son & Company, page 63:I was indeed gently affected, and shared his fears, remembering well the bulging walls of the old house, and the toppling mass of heavy chimney work which beetled over the roof, beneath which these poor doves had made their nest.
** 1871, The Spectator, volume 44, page 519:He stood a barehead boy upon a cliff / Pine-crowned, that hung high beetling a bleak north sea, / His long bright hair did stream like yellow silk, […]
** 1941, Chapman Miske, The Thing in the Moonlight:Impelled by some obscure quest, I ascended a rift or cleft in this beetling precipice, noting as I did so the black mouths of many fearsome burrows extending from both walls into the depths of the stony plateau.
** 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 69:By the power of an imperious spirit, Peter was able to extend his meagre five feet two in space by expanding his chest, cocking his crest, inflating his whiskers, and beetling his brows.

### Etymology 3

From Middle English betel, from Old English bȳtel, bīetel (“hammer”), from Proto-West Germanic *bautil (“hammer, mallet”), equivalent to beat +‎ -le. Cognate with Low German Bötel (“mallet”).

#### Noun

beetle (plural beetles)
* A type of mallet with a large wooden head, used to drive wedges, beat pavements, etc.
* A machine in which fabrics are subjected to a hammering process while passing over rollers, as in cotton mills; a beetling machine.

##### Translations
#### Verb

beetle (third-person singular simple present beetles, present participle beetling, simple past and past participle beetled)
* To beat with a heavy mallet.
* To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine.
    to beetle cotton goods

### References

* ↑ Edward H[enry] Knight (1877) “Beetle”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], volumes I (A–GAS), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC.