Definition of the word butterfly

The word "butterfly" has its roots in ancient English. The term was first used in the 14th century, derived from Old English "butorfleoge" or "butor bwrec", which describes the insect's behavior of crawling on butter or other dairy products to drink the sweet or sour substance. The Old English words "buter" (butter) and "fleoge" (fly) were combined to create "butorfleoge", and later evolved into "butterfly". Over time, the spelling and pronunciation of the word have undergone changes, with the modern English term "butterfly" becoming more widely used. The scientific name for the butterfly, Lepidoptera, comes from the Greek words "lepis" (scale) and "ptera" (wings), referring to the insect's characteristic scales on their wings.