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🇯🇵Japanese Source WordCode: JA

毛虫

Native Script:日本語

Pronunciation / Transliteration: kemushi

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Caterpillar/ˈkæt.ərˌpɪl.ər/
nounCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #5200 frequency
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🇯🇵 Example Sentence in Japanese:

"庭の木に毛虫がたくさんいます。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    The larva of a butterfly or moth, typically having a segmented, wormlike body with multiple pairs of legs.

    "A green caterpillar was slowly eating its way through the tomato plant leaves."
  2. 2

    A heavy tracked vehicle, such as a tractor or military tank, that moves on a continuous metal belt.

    "The bulldozer's caterpillar tracks left deep treads in the muddy construction site."
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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from Middle English 'caterpelor', likely originating from Old Northern French 'catte pelose', meaning 'hairy cat' (from Latin 'cattus' meaning cat and 'pilosus' meaning hairy). Over centuries, folk etymology associated the latter part with 'piller' (to plunder/pillage), reflecting the insect's voracious appetite for leaves.

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