Origin: Germanic Old English prefix
Beaver has 13 different meanings across 3 categories:
Noun · Verb · Proper Noun
the soft brown fur of the beaver
"The trapper sold his winter coat made from rich, warm beaver."
a full beard
"The old fisherman wore his wool cap and beaver to shield his face from the wind."
a movable piece of armor on a medieval helmet used to protect the lower face
"The knight raised his beaver to shield his mouth and chin from an incoming arrow."
large semiaquatic rodent with webbed hind feet and a broad flat tail; construct complex dams and underwater lodges
"The beaver used its sharp teeth to cut down trees so it could build a sturdy dam across the stream."
A semiaquatic rodent of the genus Castor, having a wide, flat tail and webbed feet.
"The beaver who moved to Portland found a new home in the Columbia River valley."
Alternative spelling of bevor (“part of a helmet”)
A native or resident of the American state of Oregon.
In plain English: A beaver is a large, furry rodent that builds dams and lodges out of wood near water.
"The beaver built a sturdy dam across the stream to create a safe home for its family."
Usage: Use this word to refer specifically to the large aquatic rodent known for building dams with its distinctive flat tail. Avoid confusing it with "bevor," an archaic term for part of a medieval helmet that is rarely used in modern speech.
work hard on something
"The team worked like beavers to finish the project before the deadline."
A surname.
"The Dane-zaa, also known as the Beaver people, have historically inhabited the regions of northern Alberta and British Columbia."
the Dane-zaa people, indigenous to northern Alberta and British Columbia, Canada
The word "beaver" comes from Old English befer, which traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root bʰébʰrus. This original root meant "beaver."