butterfly

Where “butterfly” sits in English frequency

Definition

1. 1
   A flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from moths by their diurnal activity and generally brighter colouring.
2. 2
   A use of surgical tape, cut into thin strips and placed across an open wound to hold it closed.
3. 3
   The butterfly stroke.
4. 4
   Any of several plane curves that look like a butterfly; see Butterfly curve (transcendental) and Butterfly curve (algebraic).
5. 5
   Ellipsis of butterflies in one’s stomach (“A sensation of excited anxiety felt in the stomach”).
6. 6
   Someone seen as being unserious and (originally) dressed gaudily; someone flighty and unreliable.
7. 7
   A combination of four options of the same type at three strike prices giving limited profit and limited risk.
8. 8
   A random change in an aspect of the timeline seemingly unrelated to the primary point of divergence, resulting from the butterfly effect.
9. 9
   A type of stretch in which one sits on the ground with the legs folded into a shape like that of a butterfly's wings, slightly rocking them up and down, resembling the wings fluttering.
10. 10
    A person who changes partners frequently.
11. 11
    A safety link or detaching hook above the cage attached to the winding rope to prevent the cage from being overwound.
12. 12
    party switcher; turncoat.

Etymology

From Middle English buterflie, butturflye, boterflye, from Old English buterflēoge, equivalent to butter + fly. Cognate with Dutch botervlieg, German Butterfliege (“butterfly”). The name may have originally been applied to butterflies of a yellowish color, or reflected a belief that butterflies ate milk and butter (compare German Molkendieb (“butterfly”, literally “whey-thief”) and Low German Botterlicker (“butterfly”, literally “butter-licker”)), or that they excreted a butter-like substance (compare Dutch boterschijte (“butterfly”, literally “butter-excretor”)). Compare also German Schmetterling from Schmetten (“cream”), German Low German Bottervögel (“butterfly”, literally “butter-fowl”). More at butter, fly. An alternate theory suggests that the first element may have originally been Old English butor- (“beater”), a mutation of bēatan (“to beat”), but this would not explain the cognates in other languages or the other names formed with milk products. Superseded non-native Middle English papilion (“butterfly”) borrowed from Old French papillon (“butterfly”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bbutterfly,btuterfly,buterfly,butetrfly,buttefrly,butterffly,butterflly,butterflyy,butterfyl,butterlfy,butterrfly,buttrefly,ubtterfly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of butterfly - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

Frequently Asked Questions