πεταλούδα

Greek

Etymology

From Medieval Greek πεταλούδα (petaloúda), of uncertain further origin. Probably from an earlier unattested *πεταλίδα (*petalída) with change of suffix to -ούδα (-oúda), from the root underlying Ancient Greek πέτᾰλον (pétălon, “leaf, petal”) + -ίδα (-ída), with possible influence from the marginally-attested πετηλίς (petilís, “locust”). Alternatively, from Ancient Greek πετάννυμι (petánnumi, “to spread out, open”), which stems from the same Indo-European root as πέτᾰλον (pétălon) above.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pe.taˈlu.ða/
• Hyphenation: πε‧τα‧λού‧δα

Noun

πεταλούδα • (petaloúda) f (plural πεταλούδες)

1. butterfly

   Synonym: ψυχή (psychí)

2. (swimming) butterfly stroke
3. (engineering) wing nut, butterfly nut
4. crucian carp
5. butterfly knife; balisong

Declension

Declension of πεταλούδα

	singular	plural
nominative	πεταλούδα (petaloúda)	πεταλούδες (petaloúdes)
genitive	πεταλούδας (petaloúdas)	πεταλούδων (petaloúdon)
accusative	πεταλούδα (petaloúda)	πεταλούδες (petaloúdes)
vocative	πεταλούδα (petaloúda)	πεταλούδες (petaloúdes)

Derived terms

• νυχτοπεταλούδα f (nychtopetaloúda, “moth”)

Descendants

→ Aromanian: pitãludhã

Further reading

• πεταλούδα, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language
• πεταλούδα on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el