butterfly

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions

   They are butterflying all over town.

2. 2
   verb

   to cut and spread open, as in preparation for cooking

   I butterflied the lamb chop and stuffed it with herbs.

3. 3
   verb

   to flutter like a butterfly

   The paper began to butterfly in the wind.

4. 4
   noun

   A flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from moths by their diurnal activity and generally brighter colouring.

   It is true. I am like a butterfly, and I shall only live a little while.

5. 5
   noun

   A use of surgical tape, cut into thin strips and placed across an open wound to hold it closed.

   butterfly tape; butterfly bandage; butterfly strips

6. 6
   noun

   Ellipsis of butterflies in one’s stomach (“A sensation of excited anxiety felt in the stomach”).

   I get terrible butterflies before an exam.

7. 7
   noun

   Someone seen as being unserious and (originally) dressed gaudily; someone flighty and unreliable.

   He was affable; therefore he was frivolous. The women liked him; therefore he was a butterfly.

8. 8
   noun

   A random change in an aspect of the timeline seemingly unrelated to the primary point of divergence, resulting from the butterfly effect.

   One potential butterfly could be JFK having another son the year after the POD instead of a daughter.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws Proto-Hellenic *gʷous Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs) Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂-der. Proto-Hellenic *tūrós Ancient Greek τυρός (turós) Ancient Greek βούτῡρον (boútūron)bor. Latin būtȳrumbor. Proto-West Germanic *buterā Old English butere Proto-Indo-European *plew- Proto-Indo-European *plewk-der. Proto-Germanic *fleuganą Proto-Germanic *fleugǭ Proto-West Germanic *fleugā Old English flēoge Old English buterflēoge Middle English boterflye English butterfly From Middle English buterflie, butturflye, boterflye, from Old English buterflēoge, equivalent to butter…