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firefly

noun
/ˈfaɪ.əˌflaɪ/UK/ˈfaɪ.ɚˌflaɪ/US

Etymology

Endocentric compound of fire + fly, because the insects glow; whence also lightning bug. Compare glow fly, glowworm, and lanternfly.

  1. derived from *plewk-✻
  2. inherited from *fleugǭ✻
  3. inherited from *fleugā✻
  4. inherited from flȳġe
  5. inherited from flye
  6. compounded as firefly — “fire + fly”

Definitions

  1. Any beetle of the family Lampyridae, which exhibit bioluminescence during twilight.

    • The luciferins are different in different species and today both the luciferin and luciferase in the firefly are available in the crystalline form.

  2. A locality in the MidCoast council area, eastern New South Wales, Australia.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for firefly. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA