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Origin and history of chafer

chafer(n.)

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].

Entries linking to chafer

jowl(n.1)

"jaw, jawbone," especially the underjaw, a late 16c. alteration of Middle English chawl (late 14c.), earlier chafle (c. 1200), from late Old English ceafl "jaw; cheek; jawbone; cheekbone," from Proto-Germanic *kefalaz (source of Middle High German kiver, German kiefer, Old Norse kjoptr "jaw," Danish kæft, Flemish kavel, Dutch kevel "gum"), from PIE *gep(h)- "jaw, mouth" (cognates: Old Irish gop, Irish gob "beak, mouth").

The spelling with j-, attested from c. 1400, is perhaps from influence of the synonymous Old French joue, which also was in Middle English (see jaw (n.)). This word and jowl (n.2) have influenced one another in form and sense. Middle English also had a jolle (late 14c.) meaning "the head," especially that of a fish, which might be from either or both nouns.

cockchafer(n.)

popular name of a common European beetle, the May-beetle, 1690s, from cock (n.1), in reference to its size, + chafer "beetle."

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    Trends of chafer

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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