fritillary

English

snake's head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris)

Gulf fritillary butterfly (Agraulis vanillae)

Etymology

From Latin fritillus (“dice-box, or possibly, checkerboard”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪləɹi

Noun

fritillary (plural fritillaries)

1. Any of several bulbous perennial plants, of the genus Fritillaria, having flowers with a spotted or chequered pattern.
   • 2014 April 6, Naomi Slade, “Fritillaries: Don't forget these lilies of the field: Make a pilgrimage to one of Britain’s few fritillary meadows this season [print version (5 April 2014, p. G5): Consider the lilies of the field]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening)‎^[1], London:

     Fritillaries are as fundamental a part of the British water meadow landscape as Ratty and Mole slowly punting along under a willow tree. They speak of opalescent spring mornings, with their distinctive chequered bells bowed earthward and beaded with dew, a dark counterpoint to the acid-fresh grass.

2. Any of several butterflies, of the family Nymphalidae, having wings with black or silvery spots.

Derived terms

• dark green fritillary
• Diana fritillary
• Falklands fritillary
• Glanville fritillary
• heath fritillary
• marsh fritillary
• pearl-bordered fritillary
• regal fritillary

Translations

plant of genus Fritillaria

• Arabic: بُوقِيَّة f (būqiyya), عَرَار m (ʕarār)
• Bulgarian: туг m (tug), ходжово лале n (hodžovo lale)
• Catalan: fritil·lària f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: řebčík (cs) m
• Finnish: kirjopikarililja (fi)
• French: fritillaire (fr) f
• German: Schachblume f, Kaiserkrone f (different species)
• Lithuanian: margutė
• Persian: لاله واژگون (lâle-ye vâžgun)
• Polish: szachownica (pl) f
• Romanian: bibilică (ro) f
• Russian: ря́бчик (ru) m (rjábčik)

butterfly of family Nymphalidae

• Finnish: täpläperhonen
• German: Scheckenfalter m