Butterfly

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbʌ.tə(ɹ).flaɪ/

Definitions

1. A winged insect with colorful scaled wings, a slender body, and a long coiled feeding tube, typically found near flowers during warm seasons
2. A delicate six-legged insect with two pairs of scaled wings, a proboscis for feeding on nectar, and a complete metamorphosis from caterpillar to adult form
3. An lepidopteran creature characterized by symmetrical patterned wings covered in tiny scales, a segmented body, and the ability to flutter through gardens and meadows

Etymology: Butterflies were once named for their colour and for a folk belief about what they ate. The Old English "buterflēoge" combined "butter" with "flēoge" ("fly"), and the name may first have described yellowish species, such as the brimstone butterfly. Other explanations were also in circulation. Medieval speakers may have believed butterflies stole milk and butter, as German "Molkendieb" ("whey-thief") and Low German "Botterlicker" ("butter-licker") suggest, or that they excreted a butter-like substance, as Dutch "boterschijte" ("butter-excretor") implies. The "butter" element is not certain. One alternative proposes an Old English "butor-" ("beater") linked to "bēatan" ("to beat"), but this would not account for the parallel names in other languages built on milk products. Some people believe the word came from an earlier "flutterby", but this is a popular myth. The form "butterfly" did not develop from that word.

Synonyms: flutterby, lepidopteran, insect, moth, bug

Antonyms: predator, hunter, carnivore, pest, parasite