Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to butterfly
Participle: butterflied
Gerund: butterflying
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | butterfly |
| you | butterfly |
| he;she;it | butterflies |
| we | butterfly |
| you | butterfly |
| they | butterfly |
Perfect
| I | have butterflied |
| you | have butterflied |
| he;she;it | has butterflied |
| we | have butterflied |
| you | have butterflied |
| they | have butterflied |
Past
| I | butterflied |
| you | butterflied |
| he;she;it | butterflied |
| we | butterflied |
| you | butterflied |
| they | butterflied |
Pluperfect
| I | had butterflied |
| you | had butterflied |
| he;she;it | had butterflied |
| we | had butterflied |
| you | had butterflied |
| they | had butterflied |
Future
| I | will butterfly |
| you | will butterfly |
| he;she;it | will butterfly |
| we | will butterfly |
| you | will butterfly |
| they | will butterfly |
Future Perfect
| I | will have butterflied |
| you | will have butterflied |
| he;she;it | will have butterflied |
| we | will have butterflied |
| you | will have butterflied |
| they | will have butterflied |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | butterfly |
| you | butterfly |
| he;she;it | butterfly |
| we | butterfly |
| you | butterfly |
| they | butterfly |
Perfect
| I | have butterflied |
| you | have butterflied |
| he;she;it | have butterflied |
| we | have butterflied |
| you | have butterflied |
| they | have butterflied |
Imperfect
| I | butterflied |
| you | butterflied |
| he;she;it | butterflied |
| we | butterflied |
| you | butterflied |
| they | butterflied |
Pluperfect
| I | had butterflied |
| you | had butterflied |
| he;she;it | had butterflied |
| we | had butterflied |
| you | had butterflied |
| they | had butterflied |
Conditional
Present
| I | would butterfly |
| you | would butterfly |
| he;she;it | would butterfly |
| we | would butterfly |
| you | would butterfly |
| they | would butterfly |
Perfect
| I | would have butterflied |
| you | would have butterflied |
| he;she;it | would have butterflied |
| we | would have butterflied |
| you | would have butterflied |
| they | would have butterflied |
Imperative
| you | butterfly |
| we | Let's butterfly |
| you | butterfly |
Verbs conjugated like 'butterfly'
accompany,
acetify,
acidify,
adsignify,
affy,
alacrify,
alkalify,
ally,
amnesty,
amplify,
angelify,
anglicify,
anglify,
apology,
apply,
arefy,
argufy,
astony,
atrophy,
avowtry, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'butterfly'
betterfy,
butter,
battel,
batter,
better,
bitter,
butler,
butt-rape,
buttle,
buttress,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. Etymology tree
2. Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws
3. Proto-Hellenic *gʷous
4. Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs)
5. Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂-
6. Proto-Indo-European *-rós
7. Proto-Indo-European *tuh₂rós
8. Proto-Hellenic *tūrós
9. Ancient Greek τυρός (turós)
10. Ancient Greek βούτῡρον (boútūron)bor.
11. Latin būtȳrumbor.
12. Proto-West Germanic *buterā
13. Old English butere
14. Proto-Indo-European *plew-
15. Proto-Indo-European *plewk-
16. Proto-Indo-European *-eti
17. Proto-Indo-European *pléwketi
18. Proto-Germanic *fleuganądeverb.
19. Proto-Germanic *fleugǭ
20. Proto-West Germanic *fleugā
21. Old English flēoge
22. Old English buterflēoge
23. Middle English boterflye
24. English butterfly
25. From Middle English buterflie, butturflye, boterflye, from Old English buterflēoge, equivalent to butter + fly. Cognate with Dutch botervlieg, German Butterfliege (“butterfly”). The name may have originally been applied to butterflies of a yellowish color, or reflected a belief that butterflies ate milk and butter (compare German Molkendieb (“butterfly”, literally “whey-thief”) and Low German Botterlicker (“butterfly”, literally “butter-licker”)), or that they excreted a butter-like substance (compare Dutch boterschijte (“butterfly”, literally “butter-excretor”)). Compare also German Schmetterling from Schmetten (“cream”), German Low German Bottervögel (“butterfly”, literally “butter-fowl”). More at butter, fly.
26. An alternate theory suggests that the first element may have originally been Old English butor- (“beater”), a mutation of bēatan (“to beat”), but this would not explain the cognates in other languages or the other names formed with milk products.
27. Superseded non-native Middle English papilion (“butterfly”) borrowed from Old French papillon (“butterfly”).
28. Contrary to popularised belief, the form "butterfly" was not derived from an earlier flutterby.
Sample Sentences
-
butterflied shrimp
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Butterfly the chicken before you grill it.
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After everyone had obeyed his commands, the lieutenant motioned for two medics that now appeared to enter the room and attend to Dr. Carter. They bandaged him up, butterflying some of the deeper gashes and gave him a couple of shots. [2006, Paul Garber, Newton's Force, page 256:]
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Pearl Harbor not happening would've butterflied Taylor Swift.