Cute Badger

The derivation of the word "badger", originally applied to the European badger (Meles meles), is uncertain. It possibly comes from the French word bêcheur (digger). The Oxford English Dictionary states it probably derives from "badge" + -ard, referring to the white mark borne like a badge on its forehead.
The less common name "brock" (Old English: brocc), (Scots: brock) is a Celtic loanword (cf. Gaelic broc and Welsh broch, from Proto-Celtic brokko) meaning "grey". The Proto-Germanic term was þahsu- (cf. German Dachs, Dutch das, Norwegian svin-toks; Early Modern English: dasse), probably from the PIE root tek'- "to construct," so the badger would have been named after its digging of setts (tunnels); the Germanic term þahsu- became taxus or taxō, -ōnis in Latin glosses, replacing mēlēs ("marten" or "badger"), and from these words the common Romance terms for the animal evolved (Italian tasso, French tesson/taisson/tasson—now blaireau is more common—, Catalan toixó, Spanish tejón, Portuguese texugo).
A male badger is a boar, a female is a sow, and a young badger is a cub. A collective name suggested for a group of badgers is a cete, but badger colonies are more often called clans. A badger's home is called a sett.