butterfly

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈbʌt.ə.flaɪ/, US /ˈbʌt̬.ɚ.flaɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English butterflie, inherited from Old English buttorflēoge,^[2][3][4][5] a compound of butere (“butter”) and flēoge (“fly”) (see butter and fly).^[2][3][5] Similar names are Dutch botervlieg and German Butterfliege.^[4] Why it is so called is obscure:^[2][3][6] it may be the butter-yellow colour of common species such as the brimstone, or an old belief that the insects, or witches in their shape, stole butter or milk.^[3][6][5][7] Another theory points to Middle Dutch boterschijte, an early Dutch name, and so to the colour of the insect's excrement.^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The insect: about 700, in early glossaries.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

A vain, gaudily dressed person, such as a courtier, is a butterfly from 1605,^[9][3] and something flimsy from before 1603.^[9] To break a butterfly on a wheel, to use needless force, is from 1735.^[9] The sense of flitting from one thing to another is by 1873,^[3] and someone whose work or stay is short-lived from 1890.^[9] The butterfly bow is from 1870,^[9] and butterflies in the stomach, fluttering nerves, from 1908.^[9][6]

Timeline

• c. 700 – buturfliogæ, the insect.^[2]
• 1605 – a gaudy person.^[9]
• 1735 – to break a butterfly on a wheel.^[9]
• 1870 – butterfly bow.^[9]
• 1908 – butterflies (nerves).^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, with a slender body, clubbed antennae and broad, often brightly coloured wings.
2. A person who never settles to one interest or group, or who lives mainly for frivolous pleasure.
3. The butterfly stroke in swimming.
4. butterflies: a fluttering feeling of nervousness.

Verb

1. To cut open and spread flat, as shrimp.

Word family

• butterflylike
• butterflyfish
• owl butterfly
• emperor butterfly
• butterfly bomb
• butterfly chair
• butterfly damper
• butterfly effect

Related words

• butter
• fly
• moth

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press