Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

damselfly en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈdæmzəlflaɪ/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dem- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *dṓmder. Proto-Italic *domanos Latin dominus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin dominicus Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -lus Latin -ellus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂ Proto-Italic *-ā Latin -a Vulgar Latin *dominicella Vulgar Latin *domnicella Old French domnizelle Old French damoiselebor. Middle English dameisele English damsel Proto-Indo-European *plew- Proto-Indo-European *plewk- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *pléwketi Proto-Germanic *fleuganądeverb. Proto-Germanic *fleugǭ Proto-West Germanic *fleugā Old English flēoge Middle English flye English fly English damselfly From damsel + fly, where damsel ultimately from Vulgar Latin *domnicella (whence also French demoiselle, Portuguese donzelinha). Compare Danish vandnymfe, Dutch juffer, Swedish jungfruslända, Welsh mursen. Also compare ladybird, ladybug, nymph.

Meanings

  1. Any of various insects of the suborder Zygoptera that have long slender bodies, and are similar to dragonflies but having wings folded when at rest.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
damselflies Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

pond damselfly

Synonyms

darning needle · devil's darning needle

Translations (38)

ca damisel·la (insect) · de Schlankjungfer (insect) · oc domaisèla (insect) · sv flickslända (insect) · de Wasserjungfer (insect) · mi kihitara (insect) · eo zigoptero (insect) · es caballito del diablo (insect) · ast caballín del diañu (insect) · fi hentosudenkorento (insect) · cmn 豆娘 (insect) · nan-hbl 秤仔 (insect) · nb vannymfe (insect) · eu sorgin-orratz (insect) · ru стрекоза́ (insect) · pam tulang karayum (insect) · cy mursen (insect) · pt libelinha (insect) · mi tīemiemi (insect) · pl łątka (insect) · pt donzelinha (insect) · tl tutubing karayom (insect) · ca parotet (insect) · ca cavallet del diable (insect) · da vandnymfe (insect) · nl juffer (insect) · mi kēkēwai (insect) · nv tániilʼáítsʼóóz (insect) · ja 糸蜻蛉 (insect) · ja 豆娘 (insect) · fr demoiselle (insect) · de Kleinlibelle (insect) · kk инелік (insect) · ml സൂചിത്തുമ്പി (insect) · nn vassnymfe (insect) · he שַׁפְרִירִית (insect) · sv jungfruslända (insect) · de Seejungfer (insect)

wikidata: Q230502