Butterfly, an odd word?

I once heard somebody on TV mentioning that, as far a he knew, the word "butterfly" is the only one that has not got a different root in every language. In my case, I can clearly see that "butterfly" and the Spanish "mariposa" are totally unrelated to each other. What is the translation of this word in your language?

paruparó; mariposa

Russian (not my language):

babochka (pronounce BAbachka)

Bulgarian

peperuda

Yes, I have often wondered where "butterfly" comes from myself. I have never personally heard of these creatures hanging around slabs of butter!

Macedonian - ????????? (peperutka), but I have always heard my mum as papijon.

Sorry this website doesn't take cyrillic. Above is supposed to read that my mothers always says papijon

I like the sound of "paruparó" (which I think must be Tagalog), and "babochka." I've studied French, and it's "papillon" [papijO~] in that language. It's true "butterfly" seems to be really different even in relatively closely related languages. For example, "farfalla" (Italian), "mariposa" (Spanish), or German "Schmetterling" and Dutch "vlinder." Even the Scandinavian languages don't perfectly match up. Compare Swedish "fjäril" with Danish/Norwegian "sommerfugl." However, Frisian "flinter" is obviously very close to the Dutch word, so at least sometimes there can be cognates, but that still doesn't explain English "butterfly," especially considering Frisian is usually considered the closest language to English. Oxford says this on the English word's etymology:

"f. BUTTER n.1 + FLY n.; with OE. buttorfléyo{asg}e cf. Du. botervlieg, earlier botervlieghe, mod.G. butterfliege. The reason of the name is unknown: Wedgwood points out a Du. synonym boterschijte in Kilian, which suggests that the insect was so called from the appearance of its excrement."

Here's a good website that lists how butterfly is said in many languages

http://www.insects.org/ced4/etymology.html

Another website:

http://www.aworldforbutterflies.com/etymology.htm

My favorite is mariposa, but the modern Greek petaluodia is pretty, too.

i think butterfly hates caterpillar until science discovered its origin but in doubt as of today.

Fr <papillon> (masc) [papijõ].

In Portuguese it's "borboleta."

Butterfly, an odd word?

The Spanish word for butterfly "mariposa" is just as strange (The Latin word was "papilionis") and has an even more questionable etymology. Most sources I've read suggest 'Maria posa' (Posing Mary) referring to the Virgin Mary but it may come from a pre-Roman language spoken in Spain.

The English word appears to have originated from the medieval folk belief that butterflies were attracted by butter or milk when they flew into kitchens. What is a group of butterflies called? Most people would say a "swarm" but technically, it is an "army."

In Catalan "una papallona" (fem.)

There is the expression "fer el papallona" that means something like 'to behave in a silly, aimless way'.

Perhaps Jordi could find a more precise translation