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papilionaceous

[puh-pil-ee-uh-ney-shuh s]
adjective Botany.
  1. having an irregular corolla shaped somewhat like a butterfly, as the pea and other leguminous plants.
  2. belonging to the family Papilionaceae (Fabaceae), that is often included as part of the Leguminosae.
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Origin of papilionaceous

1660–70; < Latin pāpiliōn- (stem of pāpiliō) butterfly + -aceous
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for papilionaceous

Historical Examples

  • The caterpillars live on the pea and other papilionaceous plants.

    Our Common Insects

    Alpheus Spring Packard

  • They have been called Mouches papilionaces, or Papilionaceous Flies.

    The Insect World

    Louis Figuier

  • I opened some, and found them of a papilionaceous structure.

    Lachesis Lapponica

    Carl von Linn

  • Trees or Shrubs with papilionaceous corolla; as the laburnum.

  • Ala (plural, al), a wing; the side-petals of a papilionaceous corolla, 92.