Why Is A Butterfly Called A Butterfly?

Have you ever wondered why we call a beautiful, colorful insect a butterfly? Even though it may look like any other bug, this majestic creature has a fascinating and unique history that has captivated people for centuries.

In this article, we will explore why a butterfly is called a butterfly and other interesting facts about this amazing creature. So get ready to be mesmerized by the beauty of the butterfly!

Why is a butterfly called a butterfly?

Perplexity sometimes overwhelms us when we contemplate the origin of words.

This is particularly true with the word we use to designate the beautiful, renowned and fascinating creature, “the butterfly. ” It is neither surprising that it has led to widespread curiosity about why something so enchanting would be called a “butter” “fly?”First, we must understand the etymological meaning of the word ‘butterfly’, which comes from the Old English word ‘buttorfleoge’.

This word itself is a concatenation of two words: ‘butter’ and ‘fly’. The use of the two words, ‘butter’ and ‘fly’ was first noted around 1599 A. D.

by Richard Corbet in his poem, ‘Nosce Teipsum. ’Let us now, trace the meaning and significance of these two words:

• Butter

  The origin of the word ‘butter’ goes back to the Indo-European root bhreue, which is believed to have been the word for butter.

  From this word it then derived into the modern German word ‘butter’ and the French word ‘beurre’.

• Fly

  The origin of the word ‘fly’ is also believed to be of Indo-European origin, with the primary suggestion being the Old Norse word flauga.

  This is a compound which is comprised of two elements, ‘flug’ and ‘ugga. ’ ‘Flug’ is a verbal prefix meaning ‘to fly,’ and ‘ugga’ is an augmentative suffix.

The entire combination of ‘butter’ and ‘fly’ was originally created to depict the beautiful color of the butterfly’s wings, and it was thought back then that the color appeared as though it was made up of melted butter.

This then led to famous folklorist and zoologist Mordecai Cubitt Cooke to declare in 1871 that ‘butterfly’ was so named to describe the butter-like yellow colour of the wings of some species of the butterfly. Thus, to answer the age-old question, we can say that the butterfly earned its name because of its yellowish wings which was thought to look like melted butter. In conclusion, we can say that the butterfly is called a ‘butterfly’ due to the brightly coloured wings of the species, which resemble the yellow colour of butter. Citations:https://www. thoughtco. com/origin-of-butterfly-etymology-1968537https://en. oxforddictionaries. com/definition/butterflyhttps://www. etymonline. com/word/butter#etymonline_v_14076