Schmetterling

German

Etymology

Attested ca. 1500, standard since the 18th century. From an East Central German dialect word, equivalent to Schmetten (“cream”) +‎ -ling, due to an old belief that butterflies eat milk products or, in a more ornamented form, that witches transform themselves into butterflies in order to steal such products. Compare English butterfly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃmɛtərlɪŋ/, [ˈʃmɛ.tɐ.lɪŋ]

• Audio (Germany):

  (file)

Noun

Schmetterling m (strong, genitive Schmetterlings or Schmetterlinges, plural Schmetterlinge)

1. (in common use) butterfly

   Synonyms: Tagfalter, (Switzerland) Sommervogel, (obsolete) Buttervogel, Butterfliege

2. (chiefly biology) any insect of the order Lepidoptera, i.e. a butterfly or moth

   Synonym: Falter

3. (swimming) butterfly (kind of stroke)

   Synonym: Delphin

Declension

Declension of Schmetterling [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Schmetterling	die	Schmetterlinge
genitive	eines	des	Schmetterlings, Schmetterlinges	der	Schmetterlinge
dative	einem	dem	Schmetterling, Schmetterlinge1	den	Schmetterlingen
accusative	einen	den	Schmetterling	die	Schmetterlinge

¹Now rare, see notes.

Hyponyms

• Schmetterlingsart
• Schmetterlingsbestäubung
• Schmetterlingsblütler
• Schmetterlingsfisch
• Schmetterlingsflügel
• Schmetterlingskunde
• Schmetterlingsnetz
• Schmetterlingsraupe
• Schmetterlingssammlung
• Schmetterlingsstil

See also

• Motte
• Nachtfalter, Tagfalter
• Raupe

Further reading

• “Schmetterling” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Schmetterling” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Schmetterling” in Duden online
• Schmetterling on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃmetɐliŋ/

Noun

Schmetterling m (plural Schmetterling, diminutive Schmetterlingche)

1. butterfly

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary