butterfly English · revision 14931

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 700}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈbʌt.ə.flaɪ/, US /ˈbʌt̬.ɚ.flaɪ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|butterflie]], [[inh|ang|buttorflēoge]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) a compound of [[m|ang|butere|t=butter]] and [[m|ang|flēoge|t=fly]] (see [[butter]] and [[fly]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Similar names are [[nl|botervlieg]] and [[de|Butterfliege]].^(Hoad 1986) Why it is so called is obscure:^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) 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.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) Another theory points to [[dum|boterschijte]], an early Dutch name, and so to the colour of the insect's excrement.^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The insect: about 700, in early glossaries.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A vain, gaudily dressed person, such as a courtier, is a butterfly from 1605,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and something flimsy from before 1603.^(OED 1989) ''To break a butterfly on a wheel'', to use needless force, is from 1735.^(OED 1989) The sense of flitting from one thing to another is by 1873,^(Etymonline) and someone whose work or stay is short-lived from 1890.^(OED 1989) The ''butterfly bow'' is from 1870,^(OED 1989) and ''butterflies'' in the stomach, fluttering nerves, from 1908.^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 700 – buturfliogæ, the insect.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1605 – a gaudy person.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1735 – to break a butterfly on a wheel.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1870 – butterfly bow.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1908 – butterflies (nerves).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A day-flying insect of the order [[Lepidoptera]], with a slender body, clubbed antennae and broad, often brightly coloured wings.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who never settles to one interest or group, or who lives mainly for frivolous pleasure.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The butterfly stroke in swimming.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''butterflies'': a fluttering feeling of nervousness.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cut open and spread flat, as shrimp.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[butterflylike]]

+ * [[butterflyfish]]

+ * [[owl butterfly]]

+ * [[emperor butterfly]]

+ * [[butterfly bomb]]

+ * [[butterfly chair]]

+ * [[butterfly damper]]

+ * [[butterfly effect]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[butter]]

+ * [[fly]]

+ * [[moth]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}