A caterpillar is the long, worm-like stage of a butterfly or moth before it changes into its adult form. It usually has many small legs and eats a lot of leaves to grow.
From Middle English 'catyrpel' or 'catepelose', likely from Old French 'chatepelose' meaning 'hairy cat', from 'chat' (cat) and 'pelose' (hairy). People named it after its fuzzy, cat-like appearance.
The name basically means 'hairy cat', which is hilarious for a future butterfly. It’s a reminder that people used to name animals by what they *felt* like, not what science later proved them to be.
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