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firefly

fi·refly

UK/ˈfaɪ.əˌflaɪ/ US/ˈfaɪ.ɚˌflaɪ/ uncommon us

noun

Origin

Endocentric compound of fire + fly, because the insects glow; whence also lightning bug. Compare glow fly, glowworm, and lanternfly. Compare typologically Ancient Greek λαμπυρίς (lampurís, “glowworm”) (<+ πῦρ (pûr)).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.