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Bee vs Beetle - What's the difference?

bee | beetle |

As nouns the difference between bee and beetle

is that bee is a flying insect, of the superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies and for collecting pollen and producing wax and honey while beetle is 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.

As verbs the difference between bee and beetle

is that bee is obsolete spelling of lang=en while beetle is to move away quickly, to scurry away.

As an adjective beetle is

protruding, jutting, overhanging. (As in beetle brows..

bee

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) bee, from (etyl) ).

Noun

(s)
  • A flying insect, of the superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies and for collecting pollen and producing wax and honey.
  • *1499 , (John Skelton), The Bowge of Courte :
  • *:His face was belymmed as byes had him stounge.
  • *1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.12:
    • An angry Wasp th'one in a viall had, / Th'other in hers an hony-laden Bee .
  • *, II.12:
  • *:Can there be a more formall, and better ordered policie, divided into so severall charges and offices, more constantly entertained, and better maintained, than that of Bees ?
  • *2012 , ‘Subtle poison’, The Economist , 31 March:
  • *:Bees pollinate many of the world’s crops—a service estimated to be worth $15 billion a year in America alone.
    • Derived terms
    * bee-eater * beekeeper * beehive * beehouse * beeline * beeswax * bee's knees * bumblebee * honeybee * carpenter bee * have a bee in your bonnet * put the bee on * queen bee * stingless bee * sting like a bee * worker bee
    Synonyms
    *
    See also
    * apian * apiarian * apiarist * apiary * apimania * * * drone * dumbledore * hornet * honey * imbe * pollinator * wasp

    Etymology 2

    Possibly from dialectal (etyl) bene, been, .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee.
    • geography bee
  • A gathering for a specific purpose, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.
  • * S. G. Goodrich
    • The cellar was dug by a bee in a single day.
  • * 2011 , Tim Blanning, "The reinvention of the night", Times Literary Supplement , 21 Sep 2011:
    • Particularly resistant, for example, in many parts of northern Europe was the “spinning bee ”, a nocturnal gathering of women to exchange gossip, stories, refreshment and – crucially – light and heat, as they spun wool or flax, knitted or sewed.

    Etymology 3

    (Northern development of) (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A ring or torque; a bracelet.
  • * 1485 , Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur , Book VII:
    • And Kynge Arthure gaff hir a ryche bye of golde; and so she departed.
  • * 1658 , Sir Thomas Browne, Urne-Burial , Penguin 2005, page 16:
    • ...restoring unto the world much gold richly adorning his Sword, two hundred Rubies, many hundred Imperial Coynes, three hundred golden Bees , the bones and horseshoe of his horse enterred with him...

    Etymology 4

    Variant spellings.

    Verb

    (head)
  • * 1604 Reverend Cawdrey Table Aleph
    • held that a ‘Nicholaitan is an heretike, like Nicholas, who held that wiues should bee common to all alike.’
  • (obsolete) ; been
    • (Spenser)

    Etymology 5

    Noun

    (en noun)
    • See also
    *

    Etymology 6

    Probably from an (etyl) word meaning "ring". See bow.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any of the pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through.
    • Synonyms
    * bee block

    References

    English terms with multiple etymologies ----

    beetle

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) bitle, bityl, bytylle, from (etyl) bitula, bitela, .

    Alternative forms

    * (all obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • 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.
  • (uncountable) 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.
  • * 1944 , Queen's Nurses' Magazine (volumes 33-35, page 12)
    • Guessing competitions were tackled with much enthusiasm, followed by a beetle drive, and judging by the laughter, this was popular with all.
    Synonyms
    * (insect) bug
    Derived terms
    * beetle-browed * Christmas beetle * click beetle * Colorado beetle * deathwatch beetle * dung beetle * huhu beetle * lady beetle * oil beetle * rhinoceros beetle * rove beetle * stag beetle * water beetle * whirligig beetle

    See also

    * bug * firefly * ladybird * scarab

    Verb

  • To move away quickly, to scurry away.
    • He beetled off on his vacation.
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=1983 , author= , title=(Gaudy Night) , publisher=Mountaineers Books citation , isbn=978-0-380-01207-7 , page=144 , passage=“
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=2003 , author= , title=(Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) , chapter=The Department of Mysteries , isbn=9780439358064 , page=766 , passage=In the falling darkness Harry saw small collections of lights as they passed over more villages, then a winding road on which a single car was beetling its way home through the hills. …}}
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=2005 , author=(James Doss) , title=The Witch's Tongue , isbn=9780312991081 , page=178 , passage=Her eyes still closed, his aunt smiled cruelly. “I know what you are dying to say, Bertie. Go ahead—take the cheap shot. I’ll squash you like the nasty little bug you are.” ¶ Thus chastened, the little man beetled away.}}

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) . Possibly after , from the fact that some beetles have bushy antennae.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Protruding, jutting, overhanging. (As in beetle brows .)

    • Verb

    (beetl)
  • To loom over; to extend or jut.
    • The heavy chimney beetled over the thatched roof.
  • * Shakespeare
    • To the dreadful summit of the cliff / That beetles o'er his base into the sea.
  • * Wordsworth
    • Each beetling rampart, and each tower sublime.
  • * {{quote-magazine
    • , year=1858 , author=Dean of Pimlico , title=A Story for the New Year , date=January-March , volume=56 (volume 20 of the second series) , page=63 , magazine=Dublin University Magazine reprinted in Littell's Living Age , publisher=Littell, Son & Company citation , passage=I was indeed gently affected, and shared his fears, remembering well the bulging walls of the old house, and the toppling mass of heavy chimney work which beetled over the roof, beneath which these poor doves had made their nest. }}
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=1941 , author=Chapman Miske , title=The Thing in the Moonlight , passage=Impelled by some obscure quest, I ascended a rift or cleft in this beetling precipice, noting as I did so the black mouths of many fearsome burrows extending from both walls into the depths of the stony plateau.}}

    Etymology 3

    (etyl) betel, from (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A type of mallet with a large wooden head, used to drive wedges, beat pavements, etc.
  • A machine in which fabrics are subjected to a hammering process while passing over rollers, as in cotton mills; a beetling machine.
    • (Knight)

    Verb

    (beetl)
  • To beat with a heavy mallet.
  • To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine.
    • to beetle cotton goods