farfett

Maltese

Farfett

Etymology

Probably inherited from dialectal Arabic; compare especially Tunisian Arabic فرططو/فرفطو (farṭaṭṭu/farfaṭṭu), Moroccan Arabic فرططو (farṭuṭṭu, “butterfly”), but also Moroccan Arabic فرطوط (farṭūṭ, “moth”) etc. Eventually from Berber; compare Kabyle aferṭeṭṭu. The second -f- might be due to influence by Italian farfalla, which is either unrelated or itself from the Arabic (see the entry).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /farˈfɛt/
• Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun

farfett m (plural friefet)

1. butterfly
   • 2018, Antoinette Borg, Amina, Merlin Publishers, →ISBN:

     Pereżempju qatt innutajtu s-simetrija bilaterali perfetta tal-ġwienaħ ta’ farfett, tad-denb ta’ pagun, jew għall-inqas tal-wiċċ uman?

     For example, have you ever noticed the perfect bilateral symmetry of a butterfly’s wings, a peacock’s tail, or at least the human face?

   • 1970, Anton Buttigieg, “Fil-Ġnien”, in Fl-Arena:

     Ta’ ferħ u serħ imlietni, u bħall-għasafar
     u l-friefet jien għamilt: minn fjur għal fjur
     ħsiebi tar bħal farfett, taħt siġra kbira
     qalbi fesdqet il-għana bħal għasfur.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• farfett il-lejl

See also

• dudu tal-ħarir