Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Butterfly

Definition: Butterfly

Butterfly

Noun

1. Diurnal insect typically having a slender body with knobbed antennae and broad colorful wings.

2. A swimming stroke in which the arms are thrown forward together out of the water while the feet kick up and down.

Verb

1. Flutter like a butterfly.

2. Cut and spread open, as in preparation for cooking; "butterflied shrimp".

3. Talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions; "The guys always try to chat up the new secretaries"; "My husband never flirts with other women".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "butterfly" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references)

Etymology: Butterfly \But"ter*fly`\, noun; plural Butterflies. [Perh. from the color of a yellow species. Anglo-Saxon buter-fl[=e]ge, buttor-fle['o]ge; compare to German butterfliege, Dutch botervlieg. See Butter, and Fly.]. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: Butterfly

DomainDefinition

Biographical Satire

BUTTERFLY, Madame, a little Japanese lady whose child has remained the same size and age for the past eight years. Source: Who was Who: 5000BC - 1914.

Dream Interpretation

To see a butterfly among flowers and green grasses, indicates prosperity and fair attainments.
To see them flying about, denotes news from absent friends by letter, or from some one who has seen them. To a young woman, a happy love, culminating in a life union. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted ....

Finance

A spread established by combining a bull spread/bear spread between the strikes X1 and X2 and a bear spread/bull spread between the strikes X2 and X3, with X1 < X2 < X3 and X3-X2= X2-X1, all options having an identical expiration date. Source: European Union. (references)

Food & Agriculture

Part of dan leno assembly. L-shaped or triangular steel plate shackled between dan leno spindle and legs. Source: European Union. (references)

Mechanical Engineering

Fluid-flow valve in form of pivoted plate, usually with jointing strip along either or both sides. Source: European Union. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Butterfly

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

nah:Papalotl


Kamehameha

A butterfly is a flying insect of the order Lepidoptera (as are Moths), usually with striking colours and patterns on its wings.

People who study or collect butterflies are called lepidopterists.

Etymology

An erroneous etymology claims that the word butterfly came from a shift of letters in "flutterby"; however, the old English word was buttorfleoge and a similar word occurs in Dutch, apparently because butterflies were thought to steal milk.

The four stages in the lifecycle of a butterfly

Unlike most insects they do not have a nymph period, but have a pupal stage between the larva and the adult stage (the imago).

Egg

Butterfly eggs consist of a hard-ridged outer layer of shell, called the chorion, lined with a thin coating of wax which prevents the egg from drying out before the larva has fully developed. Each egg has a number of tiny funnel-shaped openings at one end, called micropyles. The purpose of the holes is to allow sperm to enter and to fertilize the egg. Butterfly and moth eggs vary greatly in size between species, but they are all spherical or ovate.

Larva

Larvae, or caterpillars, are multilegged eating machines. They live on plant leaves and spend practically all their time eating. As they grow they shed their skin several times.

Pupa

When the larva has eaten enough it will will either spin a coccoon or form a chrysalis. The larva usually moves to the underside of a leaf. To form a coccoon it spins a silk-like thread around itself. A chrysalis is formed by hardening bodily secretions. A larva completely covered by a coccoon or chrysalis is called a pupa. Inside its protective shell the larva will transform into a butterfly (or moth).

Butterfly


Lange's Metalmark

As lepidoptera, butterflies have four wings, but unlike moths, the fore and hindwings are not hooked together, permitting of a more graceful flight. A butterfly has six legs; the larva also has six true legs and a number of prolegs. After it emerges from its pupal stage it can not fly for some time because its wings have not yet unfolded. A newly emerged butterfly needs to spend some time 'inflating' its wings with blood and letting them dry, during which time it is extremely vulnerable to predators.

Many species of butterfly are sexually dimorphic. Some butterflies, such as the Monarch butterfly, are migratory.

Butterflies are often confused with moths, but there are a few simple differences between them, including colour, habits, and pupating appearance. See the difference between a butterfly and a moth.

Butterflies live primarily on nectar from flowers. Some also derive nourishment from pollen, tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, and dissolved minerals in wet sand or dirt.

Species

There are between 15,000 and 20,000 species of butterflies worldwide. Some species include:

Survival


Common Buckeye

Butterflies (and their stages) have many natural enemies such as:

Ants

Ants will sometimes attack a larva in hordes. However, there are actually some species of ants that keep Myrmecophilous (ant loving) butterfly larvae as cattle, taking a larva into their nest, feeding it leaves on one end and milking it for honeydew on the other. This symbiotic relationship can turn to the larvae becoming Myrmecophageous (ant-eating). The ants actually tolerate the larvae even while they eat the ant pupae.

Birds

Some butterflies have evolved 'eye' like markings on their wings, scaring off some birds. Also, since some birds attack the eyes of an animal first, the butterfly has a chance of escaping in the confusion when the bird simply pokes a hole in one of the wings.

Field guides to North American butterflies

Reference

External links

See also metamorphosis (biology).

Other meanings

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Butterfly stroke

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Butterfly, or short fly, is swum on the breast, with the arms moving synchronously. The butterfly kick was developed separately, and is also known as Dolphin. While other styles like breaststroke, front crawl, or backstroke can be swum easily even for beginners, butterfly requires a very good technique to be feasible. Most students consider it the most difficult style. It is also the newest swimming style swum on competitions, first swum around 1934.

Speed and Ergonomics

Butterfly is the second fastest style after front crawl, and the fastest style regulated by FINA. The speed of top swimmers is around 1.67 m/s, very close to the speed of front crawl swimmers with 1.71 m/s, and significantly faster than backstroke (1.52 m/s) and breaststroke (1.37 m/s). The peak speed Butterfly is even faster than the peak speed of front crawl due to the synchronous pull/push with both arms, yet drops significantly during the recovery phase, making it overall slightly slower than front crawl.

Breaststroke, backstroke, and front crawl can be swum easily even if the technique is flawed. Butterfly, however, is unforgiving to mistakes in the style, and it is very difficult to overcome a bad butterfly style with brute strength. Most people consider it the most difficult style to swim, yet done correctly competitive butterfly swimming requires less energy than breaststroke. The main difficulties for students are the synchronous over water recovery, especially when combined with breathing, as both arms, the head, and parts of the shoulder have to be lifted out of the water for these tasks.

History

The butterfly style evolved from breaststroke. David Armbruster, swimming coach at the University of Iowa, researched breaststroke, especially considering the problem of the increased drag due to the underwater recovery. In 1934 Armbruster refined a method to bring the arms forward over water in breaststroke. He called this style butterfly. While butterfly was difficult, it brought a great improvement in speed. One year later, in 1935, Jack Sieg (Seig?), a swimmer also from the University of Iowa developed a kick technique involving swimming on his side and beating his legs in unison similar to a fish tail, and modified the technique afterward to swim it face down. He called this style Dolphin fishtail kick. Armbruster and Sieg quickly found out that combining these techniques created a very fast swimming style consisting of butterfly arms with two dolphin kicks per cycle. Nowadays, the entire style is referred to as butterfly, but sometimes still also called dolphin, especially when referring to the dolphin kick.

This new style was considerably faster than regular breaststroke, and using this technique Sieg swam 100 yards in 1:00.2. However the dolphin fishtail kick violated the rules of the FINA and was not allowed. Therefore, the butterfly arms with a breaststroke kick were used by a few swimmers in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin for the breaststroke competitions. In 1938, almost every breaststroke swimmer was using this butterfly style, yet this stroke was considered a variant of the breaststroke until 1952, when it was accepted as a separate style with a set of rules by the FINA. The 1956 Summer Olympics were the first Olympic games were butterfly was swum as a separate competition, swum over 100m and 200m.

(see History of swimming)

Technique

The butterfly technique with the dolphin kick consists of synchronous arm movement with a synchronous leg kick. Good technique is crucial to swim this style effectively. The wave-like body movement is also very significant, as this is the key for an easy synchronous over water recovery and breathing.

In the initial position, the swimmer lies on the breast, the arms are stretched to the front, and the legs are extended to the back.

The Arm Movement

The butterfly stroke has three major parts, the pull, the push, and the recovery. These can also be further subdivided. From the initial position, the arm movement starts very similar to the front crawl. At the beginning the hands sink a little bit down with the palms facing outwards and slightly down at shoulder width. This is called catching the water. The pull movement follows a semicircle with the elbow higher than the hand and the hand pointing towards the body center and downward. The semicircle ends in front of the chest at the beginning of the ribcage.

The push pushes the palm backward through the water underneath the body at the beginning and at the side of the body at the end of the push. The movement increases speed throughout the pull push phase until the hand is the fastest at the end of the push. This step is called the release and is crucial for the recovery. The speed at the end of the push is used to help with the recovery.

The recovery swings the arms sideways across the water surface to the front, with the elbows slightly higher than the hands and shoulders. The arms have to be swung forward fast in order to bring them to the front over water and not to enter the water too early, generating extra resistance of the arms moving against the swimming direction in the water. A high elbow recovery as in front crawl would save more energy, yet the movement restrictions in the shoulders do not allow this easily, and due to the synchronized movement it is not possible to roll around the shoulders as in front crawl.

The arms enter the water with the thumbs first at shoulder width. A wider entry looses movement in the next pull phase, and a smaller entry were the hands touch wastes energy. After a brief rest the cycle repeats with the pull phase.

The Leg Movement

The leg movement is similar to the leg movement in front crawl, except they are synchronized and the entire body moves in a wave-like motion to assist the legs. The first kick comes when the hands enter the water and the second, stronger kick comes at the middle of the push phase. The second kick assists in the recovery of the arms.

Alternatively, it is possible to do only one kick per cycle, but this is not advisable as it will make the recovery more difficult. Also, it is possible to swim butterfly arms with a breaststroke kick, were the main push of the kick comes at the middle of the push phase. However, this is not allowed by the FINA, but sometimes done for training purposes. A breaststroke kick will be not as fast as the dolphin kick, but is also a feasible swimming style.

Breathing

There is only a short window for breathing in butterfly. If this window is missed, the style becomes very difficult to swim. Normally the head is in the water. At the end of the push before the hands come out of the water, the head also comes out of the water by bending the head backwards. The swimmer breathes in through the mouth. The head goes back in the water again shortly after the arms come out of the water. If the head stays out too long, the recovery is hindered. The swimmer breathes out through mouth and nose till the next breath.

Normally, a breath is taken every other cycle. This can be sustained over long distances. Breathing every cycle slows the swimmer down. Swimmers may also breathe every 3rd cycle or less during sprints or the finish, depending on the need for air.

Body Movement

Swimming the arms or the legs separately is difficult, and the body movement is crucial for the arms and legs to use their full potential. The body moves in a wave like fashion, controlled by the arm movement. As the hands go in, the hips go up, and the posterior breaks the water surface. During the push phase the head goes up and the hip are at the lowest position. In this style, the second kick in the cycle is stronger than the first kick, as the second kick is more in flow with the body movement.

Start

Butterfly uses the regular start for swimming. After the start a sliding phase follows under water, followed by dolphin kicks swum under water. Swimming under water reduces the drag from breaking the surface and is very economic. Rules allow for 15m of underwater swimming, before the head must break the surface, and regular swimming resumes.

Turn and Finish

During turns and during the finish, the hands must touch the wall at the same time on the breast. The swimmer touches the wall with both hands while bending the elbows slightly. The bent elbows allow the swimmer to push himself away from the wall and turning sideways. One hand leaves the wall to be moved to the front underwater. At the same time the legs are pulled closer and moved underneath of the body towards the wall. The second hand leaves the wall to be moved to the front over water. The legs touch the wall and the hands are at the front. The swimmer sinks under water and lays on the breast, or nearly so. Next the swimmer pushes himself off the wall, keeping a streamline position with the hands to the front. Similar to the start, the swimmer is allowed to swim 15m underwater before the head must break the surface. Most swimmers swim a dolphin kick after a initial gliding phase.

The finish requires the swimmer to touch the wall with both hands at the same time.

Competitions

There are three common distances swum in competitive butterfly swimming, both over either a long course (50m pool) or a short course (25m pool). Of course, other distances are also swum on occasions.

Butterfly is also part of the Medley over the following distances:

These are the official FINA rules. They apply to swimmers during official swimming competitions.

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Synonyms: Butterfly

Synonyms: butterfly stroke (n), chat up (v), coquet (v), coquette (v), dally (v), flirt (v), mash (v), philander (v), romance (v). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Butterfly

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Beauty

Pea butterfly; garden; flower of, pink of; bijou; jewel; (ornament); work of art.

Irresolution

Waverer, ass between two bundles of hay; butterfly; wimp; doughface.

Malevolence

Wreak one's malice on, do one's worst, break a butterfly on the wheel; dip one's hands in blood, imbrue one's hands in blood; have no mercy; a.

Ostentation

Adjective: ostentatious, showy, dashing, pretentious; janty, jaunty; grand, pompous, palatial; high-sounding; turgid; (big-sounding); gairish, garish; gaudy, gaudy as a butterfly, gaudy as a tulip; flaunting, flashing, flaming, glittering; gay; (ornate).

Waste

Waste its sweetness on the desert air ; cast one's bread upon the waters, cast pearls before swine; employ a steam engine to crack a nut, waste powder and shot, break a butterfly on a wheel; labor in vain; (useless); cut blocks with a razor, pour water into a sieve.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Butterfly

English words defined with "butterfly": American copper, analyzed, angelfish, anglewing, Apatura irisbanded purple, busy, Butterflies, butterfly effect, Butterfly valveCabbage butterfly, Cabbage worm, cabbageworm, caterpillar, Chaetodontidae, chrysalis, comma, Comma butterflydanaid, danaid butterfly, Danaus plexippusEmperor, emperor butterflyfamily Chaetodontidae, fritillarygenus Gymnura, GymnuraInachis ioLeaf butterfly, Limenitis archippus, Limenitis arthemis, Limenitis camilla, Lycaena hypophlaeasMesoscutum, metamorphous, milkweed butterfly, monarch, monarch butterflyoccupyPainted beauty, painted lady, Papilionaceous, Patagium, peacock, Peacock butterfly, Phono, Pieris rapae, Pleurisy root, Polygonia comma, Popelote, Purple emperorred admiral, Red empresssilverspot, spring beautyTharos, Thistle butterfly, Troilus, TurnusUrsulaVanessa antiopa, Vanessa virginiensis, viceroy, Violet-tipwhite admiralYellow spotZebra swallowtail. (references)
Specialty definitions using "butterfly": Butterfly Common LISP, Butterfly Kiss, butterfly nut, Butterfly Scheme, butterfly screwchannel hopping, Cleliadan leno assemblyfan drift doorsLorenz attractorMultiSchemeorange tippapilio palinurus, PEARLRight wing downSave the Markthumb screwWest Samoa, wing boltXanthopterin. (references)
Etymologies containing "butterfly": Popelote. (references)
Non-English Usage: "Butterfly" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses.

German (butterfly).

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Modern Usage: Butterfly

DomainUsage

Screenplays

You are a beautiful, beautiful, little butterfly. (Alien: Resurrection; writing credit: Dan O'Bannon; Ronald Shusett)

I was always the butterfly, and you were always the moth (The Hire: Hostage; writing credit: David Carter; Vincent Ngo)

Mr. Brady, why do you deny the one thing that sets above the other animals? What other merit have we? The elephant is larger, the horse stronger and swifter, the butterfly more beautiful, the mosquito more prolific, even the sponge is more durable (Inherit the Wind; writing credit: Jerome Lawrence; Robert E. Lee)

Once I read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today, I saw one (You've Got Mail; writing credit: Nora Ephron)

Lyrics

Come come my lady, you're my butterfly (Butterfly; performing artist: Crazy Town)

This lovely black butterfly (Nobody's Supposed To Be Here (Dance Mix); performing artist: Deborah Cox)

Butterfly decal, rearview mirror, dogging the scene (What's The Frequency, Kenneth?; performing artist: R.E.M.)

A wishing well of butterfly tears (Wishing Well (A Tone Poem); performing artist: Terence Trent D'arby)

There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web (King Of Pain; performing artist: The Police)

Clever

What the caterpillar calls the end, the butterfly calls the beginning. (references; author: unknown)

Movie/TV Titles

Butterfly (2003)

Madama Butterfly (1974)

Third Eye Butterfly (1968)

Watch the Butterfly (1966)

Scream of the Butterfly (1965)

Song Titles

Butterfly (performing artist: Mariah Carey)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Butterfly

DomainTitle

Books

  • Angelina and the Butterfly (reference)

  • Butterfly Stained Glass Coloring Book (reference)

  • From Shyness to Social Butterfly (reference)

  • Obsidian Butterfly (reference)

  • Stokes Butterfly Book : The Complete Guide to Butterfly Gardening, Identification, and Behavior (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Periodicals

  

Theater & Movies

  • Giacomo Puccini - Madame Butterfly / James Conlon - Huang, Troxell, Liang, Cowan (reference)

    (more DVD examples; more video examples)

  

Music

  

Consumer Goods

  • Koala Baby - Fleece - Butterfly (reference)

  • Lenox Butterfly Meadow Fine Porcelain Salt & Pepper Shakers (reference)

  • Freud 24-106 Butterfly Spline Router Bit with 1/2" Shank (reference)

  • JET JSM-401 3/8" Butterfly Air Impact (reference)

  • Porter-Cable PT381 3/8" Butterfly Impact Wrench (reference)

    (more baby examples; more wireless phone examples; more garden examples; more kitchen examples; more tool examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Butterfly

Photos:
Butterfly

More pictures...

Illustrations:
Butterfly

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Butterfly

More pictures...

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Photo Album: Butterfly

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

"Butterfly" (movie) by Jerry Thornhill.

Butterfly Nebula. Credit: NASA.

Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Butterfly weed - Asclepias tuberosa as found on Washburn Island. This plant is poisonous if ingested in large quantities. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR).

Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Monarch butterfly - Danaus plexippus. These beautiful butterflies are poisonous to predators and feed on the reserves many milkweed plants. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR).

Chrysurus butterfly fish - Chaetodon paucifasciatus is upper fish. Credit: The Coral Kingdom.

Dascyllus albisella -damselfish with butterfly Chaetodon ephippium This butterfly is rare in Hawaii. Credit: The Coral Kingdom.

A Spotfin Butterfly Fish. Credit: Sanctuaries.

Monarch butterfly on purple prairie coneflower in a back yard in Des Moines, Iowa. Credit: Lynn Betts.

Earth Team youth examining a butterfly beside a wetland in eastern South Dakota. Credit: Don Poggensee.

Close shot of Flat Stem Onion wildflower and butterfly, Lakeview District. Credit: Terry Spivey.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Digital Photo Gallery: Butterfly
 

"Butterfly" by Rafal Kajewski
Commentary: "Butterfly on the causeway."
"Butterfly on flower" by Brianne Rankosky
Commentary: "Monarch butterfly on purple flower."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

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Familiar Quotations: Butterfly

AuthorQuotation

Alexander Pope

Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Use in Literature: Butterfly

TitleAuthorQuote

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

I recollect a white butterfly flying back and forth in the street

Walden

Thoreau, Henry David

The voracious caterpillar when transformed into a butterfly.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Tom Stoppard

A Chinaman of the T'ang Dynasty - and, by which definition, a philosopher - dreamed he was a butterfly, and from that moment he was never quite sure that he was not a butterfly dreaming it was a Chinese philosopher

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Butterfly

SubjectTopicQuote

Health

Typical features of lupus include a butterfly shaped rash over the cheeks, a skin rash appearing in areas exposed to the sun, sores in the mouth and nose, arthritis involving one or more joints, kidney inflammation, neurological disorders such as headaches, personality changes, organic brain syndrome, peripheral neuropathies, sensory neuropathy, psychological problems including paranoia, mania, and schizophrenia, seizures, transverse myelitis, and paralysis and stroke. (references)

Business

Domestic production of sporting goods for local sales is concentrated on water skis, surf boards and other watersport equipment; tennis balls; basketballs; fishing rods; fish hooks and fishing tackle/landing nets; butterfly nets; and decoy birds. (references)

Economic History

Philippines

While Japan was the number one source of imports, the bulk of imports were for fishing tackle/landing nets, butterfly nets and decoy birds. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Butterfly

"Butterfly" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 97.67% of the time. "Butterfly" is used about 644 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Noun (singular)97.67%62910,317
Noun (proper)2.33%1590,616
                    Total100.00%644N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Expression: Butterfly

Expressions using "butterfly": Asclepias butterfly Atalanta butterfly Atlanta butterfly break a butterfly on wheel butterfly bush butterfly collector butterfly Common LISP Butterfly Conservation butterfly effect Butterfly fish butterfly flower Butterfly lily butterfly net butterfly nut butterfly orchid butterfly orchis Butterfly pea butterfly plant Butterfly ray butterfly Scheme butterfly screw Butterfly shell butterfly shift butterfly spread butterfly stroke butterfly swimmer butterfly tail butterfly valve butterfly weed cabbage butterfly Comma butterfly danaid butterfly Elm butterfly emperor butterfly greater butterfly orchid hairstreak butterfly have butterfly in the stomach Leaf butterfly lesser butterfly orchid long butterfly long butterfly spread lycaenid butterfly milkweed butterfly monarch butterfly mourning cloak butterfly nettle butterfly nymphalid butterfly Peacock butterfly pierid butterfly red butterfly sea butterfly southern cabbage butterfly spirit butterfly sulfur butterfly sulphur butterfly Thistle butterfly throttle butterfly tip plate butterfly valve tortoiseshell butterfly Troilus butterfly. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "butterfly": butterfly-blue, butterfly-bowed, butterfly-catching, butterfly-collecting, butterfly-light, butterfly-like, butterfly-lovers, butterfly-necktie, butterfly-net, butterfly-shaped, butterfly-taps, butterfly-type.

Ending with "butterfly": copper-butterfly.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Butterfly

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

butterfly

17,249

butterfly tattoo design

325

wedding butterfly

4,420

butterfly clipart

324

butterfly tattoo

3,531

iron butterfly

289

butterfly garden

3,159

butterfly wallpaper

254

butterfly house

2,719

butterfly release

240

butterfly jewelry

2,587

butterfly tattoo tribal

219

butterfly art

2,404

butterfly life cycle

215

butterfly gift

2,298

butterfly photo

208

butterfly feeder

2,293

butterfly valve

201

monarch butterfly

2,107

butterfly kiss lyrics

197

butterfly picture

1,814

butterfly clip art

174

butterfly shirt

1,037

butterfly coloring page

155

butterfly figurine

1,009

butterfly background

150

butterfly kiss

741

butterfly pic

132

butterfly bush

685

butterfly drawing

130

butterfly knife

600

venus butterfly

129

swallowtail butterfly

550

butterfly poem

128

butterfly chair

510

painted lady butterfly

127

picture of butterfly tattoo

434

butterfly net

118

butterfly graphic

356

madame butterfly

113
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Butterfly

Language Translations for "butterfly"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

flutur (damper, fleeting, spinner). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏فراشة (moth, satyr, tortoiseshell), ‏شخص موكل باتباع الملذات. (various references)

   

Asturian

  

pumarina. (various references)

   

Aymara

  

pilpinto. (various references)

   

Basque

  

tximeleta. (various references)

   

Bemba

  

icipelebesha. (various references)

   

Blackfoot

  

apánii. (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

лекомислен човек (trifler), бътерфлай (butterfly stroke), пеперуда. (various references)

   

Cebuano

  

alibangbang. (various references)

   

Chamorro

  

ababang. (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

蝴蝶 . (various references)

   

Cornish

  

tykky-dew. (various references)

   

Czech

  

motýl. (various references)

   

Danish

  

sommerfugl. (various references)

   

Dutch

  

vlinder (butterfly fillet, butterfly spread, continuous motion shutter, herring side, herring-flap), kapel (chapel). (various references)

   

Ecuadorian Quechua

  

pilpintu. (various references)

   

Esperanto

  

papilio. (various references)

   

Faeroese

  

firvaldur. (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

پروانه (Billet, License, Moth, Paper, Pass, Permission, Permit), بشکل پروانه . (various references)

   

Finnish

  

perhonen (moth). (various references)

   

French

  

papillon (butterfly nut, butterfly spread, butterfly valve, tip plate butterfly valve). (various references)

   

Frisian

  

flinter. (various references)

   

German

  

Schmetterling, falter (butterflies, folder, lepidoptera, moth). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

πεταλούδα (wing nut). (various references)

   

Hawaiian

  

flutur. (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

פרפר. (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

pillangó, lepke. (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

kupu-kupu. (various references)

   

Irish

  

féileacÚn. (various references)

   

Italian

  

farfalla (moth). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

胡蝶 , 蝶蝶 , 蝶々 , , 蝴蝶 , バズーカ砲 (bachelor, battered child, bazooka, butter, butter sauce, buttercream, buzz session, clattering noise, flapping, rattling, thud, Vatican). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

バタフライ , こちょう (bloating, exaggeration, flatulence), ちょうちょう (clashing of swords, felling of trees, major key, ringing of an ax, town headman), ちょう (billion, block, bowels, cake, condoling with, frivolity, government office, guts, hyper-, indication, intestines, leaf, mourning, omen, pitch, portent, sign, super-, tempo, time, tone, trillion, ultra-). (various references)

   

Kongo

  

lumpungu mpungu. (various references)

   

Korean 

  

나비 (Butterflies). (various references)

   

Lombard

  

parpajon. (various references)

   

Macedonian

  

peperuga. (various references)

   

Manx

  

follican, foillycan (bird's eye, bird's eye see {foillican}, germander). (various references)

   

Maori

  

pepe. (various references)

   

Maya

  

peepem. (various references)

   

Mohawk

  

tsiktsinonnawen. (various references)

   

Norwegian

  

sommerfugl. (various references)

   

Occitan

  

parpalhon. (various references)

   

Papago

  

hohokimal. (various references)

   

Papiamen

  

barbulètè, barbulèt. (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

utterflybay.(various references)

   

Polish

  

motył. (various references)

   

Portuguese

  

borboleta (turnstile). (various references)

   

Provencal

  

parpalhon. (various references)

   

Romanian

  

fluture (flier, Spangle, throttle). (various references)

   

Romansch

  

tgiralla. (various references)

   

Romany

  

peperòoga. (various references)

   

Russian 

  

бабочка (bow tie). (various references)

   

Samoan

  

pepe (baby). (various references)

   

Scottish

  

dealan-dé (butterfly; inflected on the). (various references)

   

Sepedi

  

serurubele. (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

leptir. (various references)

   

Shona

  

shavishavi. (various references)

   

Spanish

  

mariposa (butterfish, night light). (various references)

   

Sranan

  

kaperka. (various references)

   

Swahili

  

kipepeo. (various references)

   

Swazi

  

lú-víváne. (various references)

   

Swedish

  

fjäril (butter-fly, moth, night-fly). (various references)

   

Tagalog

  

paruparó. (various references)

   

Thai

  

ผีเสื้อ, การว่ายน้ำท่าผีเสื้อ. (various references)

   

Turkish

  

kelebek. (various references)

   

Turkmen 

  

kebelek. (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

вродлива легковажна жінка, метелик (moth, skipper), батерфляй. (various references)

   

Welsh

  

pili-pala, glo%yn byw. (various references)

   

Yucatec

  

pepem. (various references)

   

Zulu

  

uvemvane, ijubajubane. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Butterfly

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Sumerian3100 BCE-2500 BCE

giri. (various references)

Latin500 BCE-Modern

papilio, papilionibus, papilionis, papilionum. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Butterfly

Derivations

Words beginning with "butterfly": butterflyer, butterflyers, butterflying. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Butterfly" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Botterell, buterfly, butterfli, butterflied, butterflys, butterly, Buttlerley, Buturlin. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "Butterfly"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "butterfly" (pronounced bu"terflī')
4-er f l ī'firefly.
3-f l ī'botfly, gadfly, shoofly.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

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Anagrams: Butterfly

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "b-e-f-l-r-t-t-u-y"

-1 letter: fluttery.

-2 letters: brutely, butlery, buttery, flutter, utterly.

-3 letters: belfry, burley, butler, butter, fleury, fluter, flutey, fretty, tetryl, trebly, tufter, turtle.

-4 letters: beryl, bluer, bluet, bluey, blurt, brute, buret, burly, butle, butte, butty, butyl, buyer, ferly, flute, fluty, fluyt, flyer, flyte, fytte, lefty, rebut, rebuy, refly, ruble, rutty, truly, tuber, tufty, turfy, tuyer, utter.

-5 letters: belt.

 Words containing the letters "b-e-f-l-r-t-t-u-y"
 

+2 letters: butterflyer.

 

+3 letters: butterflyers, butterflying.

 

+4 letters: unforgettably.

 

+5 letters: irrefutability.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern
5. Usage: Commercial
6. Images: Slideshow
7. Images: Photo Album
8. Images: Digital Art
9. Quotations: Familiar
10. Quotations: Fiction
11. Quotations: Non-fiction
12. Usage Frequency
13. Expressions
14. Expressions: Internet
15. Translations: Modern
16. Translations: Ancient
17. Derivations
18. Rhymes
19. Anagrams
20. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.