"butterfly" in seven languages
Meaningbutterfly
Spanish
mariposa
/maɾiˈposa/
fem.other source · traditionally explained as Mari(a), posa(te) 'Mary, alight!' from a children's rhyme
French
papillon
/papijɔ̃/
masc.inherited
Italian
farfalla
/farˈfalla/
fem.other source · of uncertain origin
Portuguese
borboleta
/bohboˈletɐ/
fem.other source · of uncertain origin
Romanian
fluture
/ˈfluture/
masc.other source · of uncertain origin
Catalan
papallona
/pəpəˈʎonə/
fem.inherited
English
butterfly
/ˈbʌtɚflaɪ/
native English · Old English buttorflēoge
English → ItalianbutterflyfarfallaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: pavilion (a tent spread like a butterfly's wings).What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
PĀPILIŌNEM (nom. PĀPILIŌ)‘butterfly; later also 'tent'’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Only French kept Latin's butterfly. The Romans also used the word for a tent, which reached English as pavilion.
English relatives: pavilion (a tent spread like a butterfly's wings)
Learn it
In a sentence
- esUna mariposa se posó en la flor.
- frUn papillon s'est posé sur la fleur.
- itUna farfalla si è posata sul fiore.
- ptUma borboleta pousou na flor.
- roUn fluture s-a așezat pe floare.
- caUna papallona s'ha posat a la flor.
- enA butterfly landed on the flower.