papilionaceous, a.
(pəˌpɪlɪəˈneɪʃəs)
Also 7 papill-.
[f. mod.L. papiliōnāceus (of insects), in F. papilionacé (Réaumur 1734); papiliōnāceæ (of plants), Ray 1682; f. L. papiliōn-em butterfly: see -aceous.]
1. Of or pertaining to a butterfly or butterflies; of the nature of a butterfly; belonging to the butterfly tribe. Now rare or Obs.
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. v. §2. 126 Papilionaceous Fly. 1713 Derham Phys.-Theol. iv. xiii. 235 A good though very brief Description of the Papilionaceous Fly. 1771 Gentl. Mag. XLI. 401 He takes pleasure to impale for days and weeks the papilionaceous race with corking pins. 1837 T. Hook Jack Brag xviii, Psyche..the lovely lively lady with the papilionaceous wings. |
b. fig. Having the character of which a butterfly is taken as a type: cf. butterfly n. 2.
| 1832 Carlyle Misc., Boswell's Johnson (1857) III. 91 A bright papilionaceous creature. 1875 M. E. Braddon Hostages to Fortune I. i. 37 The women he has admired hitherto belong to the papilionaceous tribe. |
2. Bot. Applied, from its fancied resemblance to a butterfly, to that form of flower found in most leguminous plants, having an irregular corolla consisting of a large upper petal (the vexillum or standard), two lateral petals (the alæ or wings), and two narrow lower petals between these (forming the carina or keel). Also said of the plant.
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. iv. §5. 96 Herbs..Papillionaceous; the flower having some resemblance to a Butterfly, as the blooms of Pease or Beans, &c. 1693 Phil. Trans. XVII. 766 Many papilionaceous and winged Plants. 1797 Holcroft Stolberg's Trav. (ed. 2) III. lxxviii. 191, I saw the..tree of Judas, covered with its..red papilionaceous flower. 1876 Darwin Cross-fertil. i. 5 Papilionaceous flowers..offer innumerable curious adaptations for Cross-fertilisation. |