CATERPILLAR

caterpillar, the popular name of the larva of various insects, particularly of butterflies and moths (see lepidoptera, hexapoda, metamorphosis). the word appears first in the form _caterpyl_ (_promptorium parvulorum_, about the middle of the 15th century). this may be the original form, with the addition of -ar or -er; if so, it represents the o. fr. _chatepelose_ or _chatepeleuse_, i.e. "hairy-cat" (_chat_, cat, and _pelouse_, hairy, lat. _pilosus_), a name applied to the hairy caterpillar, and also according to cotgrave to a weevil. the use of "cat" in this connexion is paralleled by the swiss name for a caterpillar, _teufelskatz_, and the popular english name for the blossom of the willow, "catkin," somewhat resembling a caterpillar (cf. "palmer"); the modern french is _chenille_, latin _canicula_, a little dog. the termination of the word seems to have been early connected with "piller," a robber, plunderer from the destructive habits of the larva, cf. joel i. 4--"that which the palmer-worm hath left, hath the locust eaten." the spelling "caterpillar," a 17th century corruption, has been the usual form since johnson.