Dictionary

cockchafer en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈkɒkˌt͡ʃeɪfɚ/

Etymology

From cock (“male bird”) + chafer (“beetle”). The Oxford English Dictionary speculates that the name may relate to a resemblance of antennae to coxcomb, or to the beetle’s size. Compare French hanneton (“cockchafer”), ultimately from Frankish *hanō (“rooster”). First attested in the late 17th century.

Meanings

1. Any of the large European beetles from the genus Melolontha that are destructive to vegetation.
   • His impassioned words buzzed about my ears like cockchafers round the top of the lime-trees. 1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 250:
   • With regard to the playing of the female part by the weaker rats it is interesting to observe that Féré found among insects that the passive part in homosexual relations is favored by fatigue; among cockchafers it was the male just separated from the female who would take the passive part (on the rare occasions when homosexual relations occurred) with a fresh male. 1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, volume 2:
   • To the person who shall discover to the Society an effectual method, verified by repeated and satisfactory trials, of destroying the Grub of the Cockchafer, so destructive to the roots of all sorts of Corn, Pease, Beans, and Turneps, the gold medal. 1793, “Premiums offered by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, in the year MDCCLXXXVI”, in Transactions of the Society Instituted at London, for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, volume 4, page 294:
2. Any of various other similar beetles, such as of the genera Acrossidius, Cyphochilus, Rhopaea, etc.

Forms

Hyponyms

Melolontha hippocastani · Cyphochilus apicalis · black-headed pasture cockchafer · common cockchafer · forest cockchafer · brown cockchafer · Acrossidius tasmaniae · Melolontha melolontha · Melolontha pectoralis · large white cockchafer · Rhopaea magnicornis · large cockchafer

Synonyms

May bug · doodlebug

Translations (102)

scn jippuneddu (beetle of genus Melolontha) · sh гу̀ндељ (beetle of genus Melolontha) · cmn 小金蟲 /小金虫 (beetle of genus Melolontha) · pt melolonta (beetle of genus Melolontha) · lt grambuolys (beetle of genus Melolontha) · eo majskarabo (beetle of genus Melolontha) · fy maaituorre (beetle of genus Melolontha) · sgs vombuolė (beetle of genus Melolontha) · fi turilas (beetle of genus Melolontha) · mk мајски бумбар (beetle of genus Melolontha) · zea Schallebieter (beetle of genus Melolontha) · ca escarabat de Sant Joan (beetle of genus Melolontha) · sv ollonborre (beetle of genus Melolontha) · no oldenborre (beetle of genus Melolontha) · es melolonta (beetle of genus Melolontha) · uk травне́вий жук (beetle of genus Melolontha) · rm buccaria (beetle of genus Melolontha) · es escarabajo sanjuanero (beetle of genus Melolontha) · grc μηλολόνθη (beetle of genus Melolontha) · rm bau da matg (beetle of genus Melolontha) · br buoc'h-derv (beetle of genus Melolontha) · lld züla (beetle of genus Melolontha) · cmn 金龜子 /金龟子 (beetle of genus Melolontha) · rup cârâbușu (beetle of genus Melolontha) · uk хрущ (beetle of genus Melolontha) · ko 풍뎅이 (beetle of genus Melolontha) · fur scusson (beetle of genus Melolontha) · ses komaɲaga (beetle of genus Melolontha) · th แมงกีนูน (beetle of genus Melolontha) · cu хрѫщь (beetle of genus Melolontha) · sh kebalj (beetle of genus Melolontha) · it melolonta (beetle of genus Melolontha) · sh hrȗšt (beetle of genus Melolontha) · es sanjuanero (beetle of genus Melolontha) · hy մայիսյան բզեզ (beetle of genus Melolontha) · ro cărăbuș (beetle of genus Melolontha) · io melolonto (beetle of genus Melolontha) · lv maijvabole (beetle of genus Melolontha) · uk травне́вий хрущ (beetle of genus Melolontha) · ru ма́йский жук (beetle of genus Melolontha) · sh gùndelj (beetle of genus Melolontha) · mg vangoa (beetle of genus Melolontha) · ja コフキコガネ (beetle of genus Melolontha) · hu cserebogár (beetle of genus Melolontha) · mg voangory (beetle of genus Melolontha) · wa åbalowe (beetle of genus Melolontha) · sh хру̑шт (beetle of genus Melolontha) · fr hanneton (beetle of genus Melolontha) · hu cserebüly (beetle of genus Melolontha) · eu kotxorro (beetle of genus Melolontha) · ru шара́нка (beetle of genus Melolontha) · wa baloujhe (beetle of genus Melolontha) · su légé (beetle of genus Melolontha) · ota مایس بوجكی (beetle of genus Melolontha) · ru хрущ (beetle of genus Melolontha) · sq arrç (beetle of genus Melolontha) · vi con bọ da (beetle of genus Melolontha) · da oldenborre (beetle of genus Melolontha) · sk chrúst (beetle of genus Melolontha) · frr driikraab (beetle of genus Melolontha) · el μηλολόνθη (beetle of genus Melolontha) · pl chrabąszcz (beetle of genus Melolontha) · sv majbagge (beetle of genus Melolontha) · co virginella (beetle of genus Melolontha) · es jorge (beetle of genus Melolontha) · fo aldinbori (beetle of genus Melolontha) · dsb jaglowac (beetle of genus Melolontha) · bg майски бръмбар (beetle of genus Melolontha) · it maggiolino (beetle of genus Melolontha) · sk chrúst obyčajný (beetle of genus Melolontha) · hsb mejski bruk (beetle of genus Melolontha) · tr mayıs böceği (beetle of genus Melolontha) · eo melolonto (beetle of genus Melolontha) · be хрушч (beetle of genus Melolontha) · kk май капшангы (beetle of genus Melolontha) · pl chrabąszcz majowy (beetle of genus Melolontha) · wa arnicot (beetle of genus Melolontha) · be ма́йскі жук (beetle of genus Melolontha) · br c'hwil-derv (beetle of genus Melolontha) · et lehemardikas (beetle of genus Melolontha) · cs chroust obecný (beetle of genus Melolontha) · is aldinbori (beetle of genus Melolontha) · nl meikever (beetle of genus Melolontha) · sh кебаљ (beetle of genus Melolontha) · udm дурга (beetle of genus Melolontha) · es abejorro (beetle of genus Melolontha) · pro bertau (beetle of genus Melolontha) · cs chroust (beetle of genus Melolontha) · nrf hanneton (beetle of genus Melolontha) · vep böbörii (beetle of genus Melolontha) · wa brouwant (beetle of genus Melolontha) · br c'hwil-Mae (beetle of genus Melolontha) · ja 金亀子 (beetle of genus Melolontha) · wym mǡjkefer (beetle of genus Melolontha) · fr mélolonthe (beetle of genus Melolontha) · pro bertal (beetle of genus Melolontha) · de Maikäfer (beetle of genus Melolontha) · ro gândac-de-mai (beetle of genus Melolontha) · kmr kirmê spî (beetle of genus Melolontha) · th แมงอีนูน (beetle of genus Melolontha) · fa سوسک طلایی (beetle of genus Melolontha) · gd dùrdalan (beetle of genus Melolontha)