butterfly

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A flying insect with large, often brightly coloured wings.

   A blue butterfly landed on the flower.

2. 2
   noun

   A nervous, fluttering feeling in the stomach.

   I get butterflies before every exam.

3. 3
   verb

   To cut meat or fish almost in half and spread it open flat for cooking.

   He butterflied the chicken breast before grilling it.

Common collocations

• monarch butterfly Noun + noun

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…

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images