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Webster 1913 Edition

Butterfly

But′ter-flyˊ

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Butterflies
.
[Perh. from the color of a yellow species. AS.
buter-flēge
,
buttor-fleóge
; cf. G.
butterfliege
, D.
botervlieg
. See
Butter
, and
Fly
.]
(Zool.)
A general name for the numerous species of diurnal Lepidoptera.
[See Illust. under
Aphrodite
.]
Asclepias butterfly
.
See under
Asclepias
.
–
Butterfly fish
(Zool.)
,
the ocellated blenny (
Blennius ocellaris
) of Europe. See
Blenny
. The term is also applied to the flying gurnard.
–
Butterfly shell
(Zool.)
,
a shell of the genus
Voluta
.
–
Butterfly valve
(Mech.)
,
a kind of double clack valve, consisting of two semicircular clappers or wings hinged to a cross rib in the pump bucket. When open it somewhat resembles a butterfly in shape.

Webster 1828 Edition

Butterfly

BUT'TERFLY

,
Noun.
[from the color of a yellow species.]
Papilio, a genus of insects, of the order of lepidopters. They have four wings imbricated with a kind of downy scales; the tongue is convoluted in a spiral form; and the body is hairy. The species are numerous. Butter-flies proceed from the crysalids of caterpillars; caterpillars proceed from eggs deposited by butterflies; they then change into crysalids, which produce butterflies, which again deposit their eggs.

Definition 2024

butterfly

butterfly

English

A butterfly.
A brimstone butterfly. The word butterfly may have its origins in the name of yellow (or cream-coloured) butterflies such as this.

Noun

butterfly ‎(plural butterflies)

  1. A flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from moths by their diurnal activity and generally brighter colouring. [from 11th c.]
  2. (now rare) Someone seen as being unserious and (originally) dressed gaudily; someone flighty and unreliable. [from 17th c.]
    • 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:
      The day came indeed when her breathless auditors learnt from her in bewilderment that what ailed him was that he was, alas, simply not serious. Maisie wept on Mrs. Wix's bosom after hearing that Sir Claude was a butterfly [...].
  3. The butterfly stroke. [from 20th c.]
  4. A use of surgical tape, cut into thin strips and placed across an open wound to hold it closed.
    butterfly tape

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

butterfly ‎(third-person singular simple present butterflies, present participle butterflying, simple past and past participle butterflied)

  1. (transitive) To cut (food) almost entirely in half and spread the halves apart, in a shape suggesting the wings of a butterfly.
    butterflied shrimp
    Butterfly the chicken before you grill it.
  2. (transitive) To cut strips of surgical tape or plasters into thin strips, and place across (a gaping wound) to close it.
    • 2006, Paul Garber, Newton's Force (page 256)
      After everyone had obeyed his commands, the lieutenant motioned for two medics that now appeared to enter the room and attend to Dr. Carter. They bandaged him up, butterflying some of the deeper gashes and gave him a couple of shots.

See also

Anagrams

References

  1. ↑ Donald A. Ringe, A Linguistic History of English: From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (Oxford: Oxford, 2003), 232.

Danish

Noun

butterfly c (singular definite butterflyen, plural indefinite butterfly)

  1. bowtie

Inflection

Etymology

From Middle English buterflie, butturflye, boterflye, from Old English butorflēoge, buttorflēoge, buterflēoge. Cognate with Dutch botervlieg, German Butterfliege ‎(“butterfly”).

Perhaps a compound of butor- ‎(“beater”), mutation of bēatan ‎(“to beat”), and flēoge ‎(“fly”).[1] More at beat and fly.

Alternate etymology connects the first element to butere ‎(“butter”), as the name may have originally been applied solely to butterflies of a yellowish color. This may have merged later with the belief that butterflies ate milk and butter (compare: German Molkendieb and Low German Botterlicker ‎(“butterfly”, literally “butter-licker”)), or that they excreted a butter-like substance (compare: Dutch boterschijt ‎(“butterfly”, literally “butter-****”)). More at butter, fly.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbʌtə(ɹ)flaɪ/
    • (US, Canada) IPA(key): [ˈbʌɾɚflaɪ]
    • (UK) IPA(key): [ˈbʌtəflaɪ]
  • Rhymes: -aɪ

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