Etymologically
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butterfly

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 13:12. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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