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cate‘female cat’
pelose‘hairy’
combined
combined
Anglo-French
*catepelose
reconstructed: not recorded in writing
‘Hairy female cat’
into Middle English
Middle English
catyrpel
‘Caterpillar’
became English
English
caterpillar
‘A butterfly or moth larva’
The story of caterpillar
The proposed Anglo-French compound behind caterpillar combines cate, female cat, with pelose, hairy. Middle English had catyrpel.
The whole Anglo-French compound is reconstructed, conventionally written *catepelose, rather than directly attested. The comparison does not describe every caterpillar’s appearance.