Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

mourning cloak

noun
  1. an anglewing butterfly, Nymphalis antiopa, widely distributed in Europe and North America, having velvety, dark-brown wings with purple spots and pale-yellow edges.
Show More

Origin of mourning cloak

First recorded in 1600–10
Also called Camberwell beauty.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mourning cloak

Historical Examples

  • In their habits they are quite similar to the caterpillars of the Mourning-cloak.

    Butterflies Worth Knowing

    Clarence M. Weed

  • I had made a mourning-cloak of the apron by tying it, hind part before, about my neck, whence it drooped to my heels.

  • After hatching from the egg, the Mourning-cloak caterpillars are also subject to the attacks of various parasites.

  • This species is commonly called the Mourning-cloak butterfly—not a particularly happy name for so beautiful an insect.

  • The caterpillars of the Mourning-cloak butterflies are restricted to comparatively few food plants.

British Dictionary definitions for mourning cloak

mourning cloak

noun
  1. the US name for Camberwell beauty
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012