papilio

noun

pa·​pil·​io

pəˈpilēˌō,

-il(ˌ)yō

1

capitalized : a genus (the type of the family Papilionidae) of lepidopterous insects that as originally formulated included all the butterflies but is now usually restricted to the typical swallow-tailed butterflies and a few nearly related forms

2

plural -s : any butterfly of the genus Papilio

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Latin, butterfly

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