papillon

English

A papillon

Alternative forms

  • Papillon

Etymology

From French papillon (butterfly), from Latin pāpiliō (butterfly, moth). Doublet of pavilion.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpæpɪjɒ̃/, /ˌpæpiˈɒn/, /ˈpæpɪlɒn/, /pəˈpɪliən/

Noun

papillon (plural papillons)

  1. A small dog of a certain breed having large ears.
    • 2014 November 29, Rachel Nuwer, “Lassie gets an upgrade”, in New Scientist, number 2997, page 47:
      The researchers tested various breeds, including border collies, golden retrievers, pit bulls, labradors and even Jackson's own little papillon.

Further reading

French

Alsacian woman wearing a black papillon (3).

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pāpiliōnem. Doublet of pavillon. The swimming sense of "butterfly stroke" is probably a semantic loan from English.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pa.pi.jɔ̃/
  • (file)

Noun

papillon m (plural papillons)

  1. butterfly
    Vif et léger comme un papillon.Lively and light like a butterfly.
  2. (by extension) someone brilliant, versatile and inconstant
    • 1833, Gautier, Albertus:
      Avec sa cour folâtre de jeunes merveilleux, papillons de boudoirs [] Véronique était là.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  3. (fashion) knot
    • 1842, Victor Hugo, Rhin:
      Le grand papillon noir, c’est la coiffure du pays. Coiffure gracieuse. De larges rubans de soie noire ajustés en cocarde sur le front, [] derrière laquelle les cheveux tombent sur le dos en deux longues nattes.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  4. (mechanics) Ellipsis of écrou papillon.; wing nut, butterfly nut
  5. (swimming) butterfly stroke
    Le record du monde en nage papillon.The world record for butterfly stroke.
    Nager le papillon.Swimming butterfly.
  6. (colloquial) parking ticket
    Les automobilistes parisiens ont fortement tendance à classer dans un tiroir les papillons qu’ils trouvent sur leur pare-brise.
    Parisian motorists have a strong tendency to file the tickets they find on their windshields in a drawer.
  7. (engineering) butterfly valve

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Greek: παπιγιόν (papigión)
  • Romanian: papion
  • Turkish: papyon

See also

Interjection

papillon

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
    Minute papillon !Wait a minute!

Derived terms

Further reading

Italian

Noun

papillon m (invariable)

  1. bow tie
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.