Word of the Day ·
vanessa
Va·nes·sa
/vəˈnɛsə/
noun
What it means
- biologyAny butterfly of the genus Vanessa.
The Nymphalidae are a very extensive group, of generally strong-winged and very bright-coloured butterflies, very abundant in the tropics, and represented in our own country by our Fritillaries, our Vanessas, and our Purple-emperor.
1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 438
In a sentence
The Nymphalidae are a very extensive group, of generally strong-winged and very bright-coloured butterflies, very abundant in the tropics, and represented in our own country by our Fritillaries, our Vanessas, and our Purple-emperor.
1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 438
Where it comes from
From the genus name.
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