papilio

P3A1P3I1L1I1O1

noun

Any butterfly of the genus Papilio.

OriginLatin pāpiliō →
UncommonScrabble 11
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Meanings

nounpapilio (plural papilios or papiliones)

plural papilios · plural papiliones

  1. biologyAny butterfly of the genus Papilio.

    At one place I would find a little crowd of the rare butterfly Tachyris zarinda, which would rise up at my approach, and display their vivid orange and cinnabar-red wings, while among them would flutter a few of the fine blue-banded Papilios.

    1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 365

Origin

  1. Latinpāpiliō
  2. Englishpapilio

From the genus name and its source, Latin pāpiliō. Doublet of papillon and pavilion.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

papilio. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/papilio

MLA

“papilio.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/papilio. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “papilio,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/papilio.

Source: papilio on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.