Lycaena

noun

type genus of the Lycaenidae; small slender butterflies with upper surface of wings usually metallic blue or green or copper

• Syn: ↑genus Lycaena

• Hypernyms: ↑arthropod genus

• Member Holonyms: ↑Lycaenidae, ↑family Lycaenidae

• Member Meronyms: ↑blue, ↑copper, ↑American copper, ↑Lycaena hypophlaeas

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\\līˈsēnə\ noun

Usage: capitalized

Etymology: New Latin, from Greek lykaina, feminine of lykos wolf

: a genus (the type of the family Lycaenidae) comprising small slender butterflies with the upper surface of the wings usually metallic blue, green, or copper and the undersurface dull or cryptic

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Lycaena /lī-sēˈnə/

noun

A genus of butterflies giving its name to the family Lycaeˈnidae, usu small and blue or coppery

ORIGIN: Gr lykaina she-wolf

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lycaeˈnid noun