papillon

English

A papillon

Alternative forms

• Papillon

Etymology

From French papillon (“butterfly”), from Latin pāpiliō (“butterfly, moth”). Doublet of pavilion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpæpɪjɒ̃/, /ˌpæpiˈɒn/, /ˈpæpɪlɒn/, /pəˈpɪliən/

Noun

papillon (plural papillons)

1. A small dog of a certain breed having large ears.
   • 2014 November 29, Rachel Nuwer, “Lassie gets an upgrade”, in New Scientist, number 2997, page 47:

     The researchers tested various breeds, including border collies, golden retrievers, pit bulls, labradors and even Jackson's own little papillon.

Further reading

• Papillon (dog) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Alsacian woman wearing a black papillon (3).

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pāpiliōnem. Doublet of pavillon. The swimming sense of "butterfly stroke" is probably a semantic loan from English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pa.pi.jɔ̃/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

papillon m (plural papillons)

1. butterfly

   Vif et léger comme un papillon. ― Lively and light like a butterfly.

2. (by extension) someone brilliant, versatile and inconstant
   • 1833, Gautier, Albertus:

     Avec sa cour folâtre de jeunes merveilleux, papillons de boudoirs […] Véronique était là.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (fashion) knot
   • 1842, Victor Hugo, Rhin:

     Le grand papillon noir, c’est la coiffure du pays. Coiffure gracieuse. De larges rubans de soie noire ajustés en cocarde sur le front, […] derrière laquelle les cheveux tombent sur le dos en deux longues nattes.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. (mechanics) Ellipsis of écrou papillon.; wing nut, butterfly nut
5. (swimming) butterfly stroke

   Le record du monde en nage papillon. ― The world record for butterfly stroke.

   Nager le papillon. ― Swimming butterfly.

6. (colloquial) parking ticket

   Les automobilistes parisiens ont fortement tendance à classer dans un tiroir les papillons qu’ils trouvent sur leur pare-brise.

   Parisian motorists have a strong tendency to file the tickets they find on their windshields in a drawer.

7. (engineering) butterfly valve

Derived terms

• arbre aux papillons
• effet papillon
• filet à papillons
• nage papillon
• nœud pap
• nœud papillon
• papillon de nuit
• papillonnage
• papillonner
• papillons dans le ventre
• papillote
• porte papillon

 

Descendants

• → Greek: παπιγιόν (papigión)
• → Romanian: papion
• → Turkish: papyon

See also

• chenille f
• mite

Interjection

papillon

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

   Minute papillon ! ― Wait a minute!

Derived terms

• minute papillon

Further reading

• “papillon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Noun

papillon m (invariable)

1. bow tie