different between butterfly vs ant
butterfly
English
Etymology
From Middle English buterflie, butturflye, boterflye, from Old English butorfl?oge, buttorfl?oge, buterfl?oge (from butere (“butter”)), equivalent to butter +? fly. Cognate with Dutch botervlieg, German Butterfliege (“butterfly”). The name may have originally been applied to butterflies of a yellowish color, and/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-shitter”)). 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 butor- (“beater”), a mutation of b?atan (“to beat”).
Superseded non-native Middle English papilion (“butterfly”) borrowed from Old French papillon (“butterfly”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?b?t?(?)fla?/
- (US, Canada) IPA(key): [?b???fla?]
- (UK) IPA(key): [?b?t?fla?]
- Rhymes: -a?
Noun
butterfly (plural butterflies)
- A flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from moths by their diurnal activity and generally brighter colouring. [from 11th c.]
- A use of surgical tape, cut into thin strips and placed across an open wound to hold it closed.
- (swimming) The butterfly stroke. [from 20th c.]
- (in the plural) A sensation of excited anxiety felt in the stomach.
- I get terrible butterflies before an exam.
- (now rare) Someone seen as being unserious and (originally) dressed gaudily; someone flighty and unreliable. [from 17th c.]
- 1859, George Meredith, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, Chapter 15:
- He was affable; therefore he was frivolous. The women liked him; therefore he was a butterfly.
- 1859, George Meredith, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, Chapter 15:
Synonyms
- lep
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
butterfly (third-person singular simple present butterflies, present participle butterflying, simple past and past participle butterflied)
- (transitive) To cut (food) almost entirely in half and spread the halves apart, in a shape suggesting the wings of a butterfly.
- butterflied shrimp
- Butterfly the chicken before you grill it.
- (transitive) To cut strips of surgical tape or plasters into thin strips, and place across (a gaping wound) to close it.
See also
- caterpillar
- flutterby
- moth
- Appendix: Animals
- Appendix:English collective nouns
References
Anagrams
- flutterby
Danish
Noun
butterfly c (singular definite butterflyen, plural indefinite butterfly)
- bowtie
Inflection
butterfly From the web:
- what butterfly
- what butterfly looks like a monarch
- what butterfly eat
- what butterfly mimics the monarch
- what butterfly am i
- what butterfly symbolizes
- what butterfly means
ant
English
Alternative forms
- ante, ampte (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English ampte, amte, emete, amete, from Old English ?mette (“ant”), from Proto-West Germanic *?maitij? (literally “biting-thing, cutter”), from Proto-Germanic *?- (“off, away”) + *maitan? (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *mai- (“to cut”). Cognate with Scots emmot (“ant”), dialectal Dutch emt, empt (“ant”), German Ameise and Emse (“ant”). See also emmet.
Pronunciation
- (General American, Received Pronunciation) enPR: ?nt, IPA(key): /ænt/
- (General New Zealand) enPR: ?nt, IPA(key): /?nt/
- (Received Pronunciation, obsolete) enPR: änt, IPA(key): /??nt/
- (æ-tensing) IPA(key): [??nt], [e?nt]
- Rhymes: -ænt
- Homophone: aunt (in some accents)
Noun
ant (plural ants)
- Any of various insects in the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera, typically living in large colonies composed almost entirely of flightless females.
- (Internet) A Web spider.
Synonyms
- (insect): emmet (archaic), pismire (archaic)
Hyponyms
- (insect in Formicidae): army ant, black garden ant, bull ant, carpenter ant, fire ant, garden ant, honey-pot ant, leafcutter ant, pharaoh ant, piss ant, red ant, sauba ant, thief ant, wood ant
Derived terms
Translations
See also
- ant- (prefix)
- -ant (suffix)
- Appendix: Animals
- army
- bike
- colony
- nest
- Appendix:English collective nouns
Verb
ant (third-person singular simple present ants, present participle anting, simple past and past participle anted)
- (ornithology) To rub insects, especially ants, on one's body, perhaps to control parasites or clean feathers.
References
Anagrams
- NAT, NTA, Nat, Nat., TAN, TNA, Tan, nat, tan
Breton
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
ant m
- furrow
Catalan
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- (Balearic, Valencian) IPA(key): /?ant/
- (Central) IPA(key): /?an/
Noun
ant m (plural ants)
- elk, moose
Crimean Tatar
Noun
ant
- oath
Declension
Synonyms
- yemin
References
- Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajins?ko-kryms?kotatars?kyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]?[3], Simferopol: Dolya, ?ISBN
Egyptian
Romanization
ant
- Manuel de Codage transliteration of ?nt.
Haitian Creole
Etymology
From French entre (“between”).
Preposition
ant
- between
Lithuanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [?nt]
Preposition
añt (with genitive)
- on
Meroitic
Romanization
ant
- Romanization of ?????????????
Middle Welsh
Alternative forms
- aant
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /a?nt/
Verb
ant
- third-person plural present indicative of mynet
Norwegian Bokmål
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /???nt/
- Rhymes: -??nt
- Hyphenation: ant
Verb
ant
- past participle of ane
- past participle common of ane
- past participle neuter of ane
Anagrams
- nat, tan
Turkish
Etymology
From Proto-Turkic *?nt (“oath”). Cognate with Old Turkic ????? (nt), Azerbaijani and, etc.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?ant/
- Hyphenation: ant
Noun
ant (definite accusative and?, plural antlar)
- oath
Synonyms
- kasem
- yemin
Turkmen
Noun
ant (definite accusative ?, plural ?)
- oath
Declension
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
Vilamovian
Pronunciation
Noun
?nt f (plural anta)
- duck
ant From the web:
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- what antibiotic is used for uti
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