kind of beetle, Old English ceafor "beetle, cock-chafer," from Proto-Germanic *kabraz- (source also of Old Saxon kevera, Dutch kever, Old High German chevar, German Käfer), literally "gnawer," from PIE *gep(h)- "jaw, mouth" (see jowl (n.1)). "Apparently, originally applied to species destructive to plants" [OED].
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