Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having a bilaterally symmetrical corolla somewhat resembling a butterfly, characteristic of most plants of the pea family.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Resembling the butterfly.
- In botany, having the corolla shaped like a butterfly, such as that of the pea. A papilionaceous flower consists of a large upper petal, called the standard or vexillum, two lateral petals called alæ or wings, and two intermediate petals forming a carina or keel. See also cut under
corolla .
Wiktionary
- adj. Having the form of a butterfly
- adj. Having corolla with two wings resembling those of a butterfly
- adj. Of, or pertaining to the Papilionaceae family of plants.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Resembling the butterfly.
- adj. Having a winged corolla somewhat resembling a butterfly, as in the blossoms of the bean and pea.
- adj. Belonging to that suborder of leguminous plants (Papilionaceæ) which includes the bean, pea, vetch, clover, and locust.
Etymologies
- Latin pāpiliō, pāpiliōn-, butterfly; see pavilion + -aceous.
Examples
“PapilionaceæAn order of Plants (see LEGUMINOSÆ), The flowers of these plants are called papilionaceous, or butterfly-like, from the fancied resemblance of the expanded superior petals to the wings of a butterfly.”
Glossary of the Principal Scientific Terms Used in the Present Volume
“-- - The flowers of these plants are called papilionaceous, or butterfly-like, from the fancied resemblance of the expanded superior petals to the wings of a butterfly.”
“The leaves are chiefly of the pinnate and bi-pinnate forms, and are exceedingly beautiful when seen against the sky; a great variety of the papilionaceous family grow in this part of the country.”
“The Hindu Angelina might be vacuous, vain, papilionaceous, silly, or even a mere doll, but if her hair hung down “like the tail of a Tartary cow,” 96 if her eyes were “like the stones of unripe mangoes,” and her nose resembled the beak of a parrot, the Hindu Edwin was more than satisfied.”
“It's very papilionaceous, is it not?' enquired the doctor.”
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
“The papilionaceous and exorbitant auditory impediment?”
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
“One of the two lateral petals of a papilionaceous flower.”
“The pink-red or white flowers of this papilionaceous (pea-like flowered) legume are unusually large (5-10 cm in length and about 3 cm wide before opening); this novelty may be the principal reason for grandiflora having been distributed by man throughout the tropics and subtropics.”
“This papilionaceous (pea-like flowered) legume bears racemes of 4-20 yellow flowers that may be lightly to heavily streaked with purple.”
“Poir. is a tree that grows to 8-10 m in height The pink-red or white flowers of this papilionaceous (pea-like flowered) legume are unusually large (5-10 cm in length and about 3 cm wide before opening); this novelty may be the principal reason for grandiflora having been distributed by man throughout the tropics and subtropics.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘papilionaceous’.
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Animal Descriptors
Do any of your friends eat like a pig? Sly like a fox? Fast as a cheetah? Maybe these words describe them better
erinaceous, alaudine, phocine, porcine, accipritine, acarine, alopecoid, anatine, anguine, anopheline, apian, arietine and 80 more...
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Phrases to sort of qualify statements as it were
The little phrases that signify that your words might not necessarily say exactly what you want to express.
sort of, kind of, as it were, if i may so speak, tanquam, if i may so say, if i may be so bold, if i may use the ..., as ’twere, with respect, if i might add, and so forth and 44 more...
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