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beetle

/ˈbiːtəl/noun, verb, adjective

beetle is spelled B-E-E-T-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, beetle means “Any of numerous species of insect in the order Coleoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of beetle is beetles.

How many letters and syllables are in beetle?

Letters6: B-E-E-T-L-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.4 times per million words; the 14,307th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is beetle?

Beetle appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce beetle?

  • /ˈbiːtəl/
  • [ˈbɪi̯tʰəl] ~ [ˈbɪi̯tʰl̩]
  • /ˈbiɾəl/

Beetle has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-beetle.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Beetle.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with beetle

Also written: betel.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of beetle

  • beetles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • beetling participle, present
  • beetled participle, past
  • more beetle comparative
  • most beetle superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does beetle mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Any of numerous species of insect in the order Coleoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of rear wings when at rest.

  2. 2

    A game of chance in which players attempt to complete a drawing of a beetle, different dice rolls allowing them to add the various body parts.

  3. 3

    Alternative letter-case form of Beetle (“car”).

    For quotations using this term, see Citations:beetle.

  4. 4

    A type of mallet with a large wooden head, used to drive wedges, beat pavements, etc.

  5. 5

    A machine in which fabrics are subjected to a hammering process while passing over rollers, as in cotton mills; a beetling machine.

verb

  1. 1

    To move (away) quickly, to scurry away.

    He beetled off on his vacation.

  2. 2

    To loom over; to extend or jut (above).

    The heavy chimney beetled over the thatched roof.

  3. 3

    To beat with a heavy mallet.

  4. 4

    To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine.

    to beetle cotton goods

adjective

  1. 1

    Protruding, jutting, overhanging.

    beetle brows

noun

as Beetle
  1. 1

    AustraliaUKA small car, the Volkswagen Beetle (original version made 1938–2003, similar models made 1997–2010 and from 2011 to 2019).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Beetle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchscarabée (insect), mailloche (mallet), Coccinelle (Volkswagen car)
GermanKäfer (insect), Holzhammer (mallet)
Portugueseescaravelho, besouro (insect), fusca, carocha (Volkswagen car)
Spanishescarabajo, acatanca, catanga (insect), Vocho, fusca (Volkswagen car)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does beetle come from?

From Middle English bitle, bityl, bytylle, from Old English bitula, bitela, bītel (“beetle”), from Proto-West Germanic *bitilō, *bītil, from Proto-Germanic *bitilô, *bītilaz (“that which tends to bite, biter, beetle”), equivalent to bite + -le. Cognate with Old High German bicco (“beetle”), Danish bille (“beetle”), Icelandic bitil, bitul (“a bite, bit”), Faroese bitil (“small piece, bittock”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after beetle