swallowtail

swallowtail

English

A swallow with a characteristic forked tail

An eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly

Etymology

swallow +‎ tail

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈswɒl.əʊˌteɪl/

Noun

swallowtail (plural swallowtails)

1. The forked tail of a swallow.
2. Anything, such as a burgee, of a similar forked shape.
3. A type of tailcoat with two long tapering tails.^Wp
   • 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., OCLC 580270828, page 01:

     It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.

4. Any of various butterflies of the family Papilionidae, many of which have a long extension to each hindwing.

Translations

tail of a swallow

Bulgarian: лястовича опашка (ljastoviča opaška) Danish: svalehale (da) c Dutch: zwaluwstaart (nl) m Finnish: haarapyrstö Hungarian: fecskefarok, fecskefark (hu) Japanese: 燕尾 (えんび, enbi) Manx: arbyl goalagh m Russian: ласточкин хвост (lástočkin χvost) m Spanish: cola de golondrina f

anything of a similar forked shape

Danish: splitflag n (flag with two tails) Finnish: haarukka (fi)

tailcoat

Bulgarian: фрак m (frak) Dutch: rokkostuum (nl) n, rok (nl) m Finnish: hännystakki (fi) French: frac (fr) m, queue-de-pie (fr) f German: Frack (de) m Hungarian: frakk (hu) Japanese: 燕尾服 (えんびふく, enbifuku) Polish: frak (pl) m inan Russian: фрак (ru) m (frak) Spanish: frac (es) m

butterfly

Danish: svalehale (da) c Dutch: page (nl) m Finnish: ritariperhonen French: machaon (fr) m Hungarian: pillangóféle Japanese: 揚羽蝶 (ja) (アゲハチョウ, agehachō) Navajo: kʼaalógii bitseeʼ hólóní Polish: paź królowej (pl) m anim Russian: па́русник (ru) m (párusnik) Spanish: macaón m Turkish: kırlangıçkuyruk (tr)