I find it fascinating that the word for “butterfly” can be so different between languages.

A quick word about me/moi/mim/мен. My mother tongue is English, and I learned French at school and then at university. Two years ago, I started learning European Portuguese and Bulgarian, as my partner and I started spending some months in Portugal and Bulgaria.

The word for “butterfly” in French is “papillon” (pronounced pah-pee-YOHN), like the breed of dog which has ears similar to that of butterfly wings. It’s a masculin word en français.

The word for “butterfly” in European Portugese is “borboleta” (pronounced bor-boh-LEH-ta). It is a feminine word, like most nouns that end in -a em português.

The word for “butterfly” in Bulgarian is “пеперуда” (pronounced “peh-peh-ROO-dah”). As with the Portuguese term, it is a feminine word, like most nouns that end in “-а” на български.

How did the word for “butterfly” come to spell and sound so different in these four languages?

From what I understand, here are the origins of the words in each language:

• butterfly - the English-language name for the winged insect may come from the colour of their excrement, as well as what they like to eat. :-o According to a professor at Carleton University, Old Dutch referred to butterflies as “boterschijte”, which “literally means ‘butter $#!t.’ [...] The tendency for butterflies to feed on poop might explain the Old Dutch term.” And an Old German name included “botterlicker,” which literally means “butter-licker.” (footnote 1)

• papillon - The name for this insect in French likely comes from the insect’s “superfamily” Papilionoidea and genus Papilio.

• borboleta - According to a Wiki site, borboleta comes from Old Portuguese “berbeleta”, which came either from Vulgar Latin belbellita (the diminutive form of bellus = “beautiful”) or papilitta (from Latin pāpiliō = “butterfly”). (footnote 2)
• пеперуда - I have not yet dredged up the etymology of the word for “butterfly” in the Bulgarian language. Hoping a Journaly reader might be able to pitch in with his/her knowledge.

In any case, I love hearing and saying the words in the four different languages.

What is “butterfly” in your native language or a language that you are learning?

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Footnote 1: https://carleton.ca/biology/cu-faq/why-are-butterflies-called-butterflies/

Footnote 2: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/borboleta

The photo of the butterfly on a thistle flower was taken by me in Bulgaria in May 2020.